Housing purchases fall for third straight quarter

Jerusalem led in housing sales in the first quarter of 2025, with 1,554 apartments purchased in the city, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. In second place was Tel Aviv, with 1,174 apartments purchased, followed by Haifa (1,084 apartments), and Beersheva (1,002 apartments). The number of housing deals in the first quarter was

23,600 housing transactions were completed in the first quarter of 2025, down 9% from the first quarter of 2024, and down 6% from the preceding quarter. This is the third consecutive quarter in which there has been a decrease in the number of transactions. Since June 2024, there has been an average monthly decrease of 2.6% in the sale of new apartments, and since November 2024, an average monthly decrease of 2.3% in the number of second-hand apartments sold.

Decrease in the number of housing deals in big cities

This is also reflected in municipal data, and in a large number of the big cities, declines were reported in the number of transactions, especially in new apartments. In Jerusalem, out of the 1,554 apartments sold in the first quarter, 38% were new apartments. Moreover, the number of new apartments purchased in this quarter fell by 23% from the fourth quarter of 2024. In Tel Aviv, out of the 1,174 homes sold in the first quarter, 45% were new apartments. This is a surprising figure, since in recent years the majority of purchases in Tel Aviv were of new apartments. This is due to a 41% fall in the purchase of new apartments.

In Haifa and Beersheva, with 1,084 and 1,002 apartments sold respectively purchased in the first quarter, most of the markets in these two cities were based on second-hand apartments, and only 18% of the apartments purchased in each of these cities were new apartments. Both cities saw sharp declines in the numbers of new apartments purchased: in Haifa, 44% and in Beersheva, 52%.

Lod was ranked fifth in terms of apartment purchases, and top in terms of new apartments purchased with a record 620 new apartments purchased, beating Jerusalem in second place with 598 new apartments purchased in the first quarter and Tel Aviv with 538. A total of 880 apartments were purchased in Lod, followed by Netanya (725) and Petah Tikva (721). These two cities also saw declines in new apartment sales.

This decline has led to a continued increase in the supply of unsold new apartments, which reached 78,620 housing units at the end of March, 12.5% of which (9,790 apartments) are in Tel Aviv, and 9% (7,384) in Jerusalem.

Other cities that stand out in terms of unsold new apartments are Bat Yam (4,092), Ramat Gan (3,669) and Netanya (3,531).

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 14, 2025.

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