Jerusalem’s Unsold Apartment Inventory Hits New Records Amid Massive Construction

Jerusalem has now overtaken Tel Aviv as the city with the largest stock of unsold new homes, and the number continues to climb steadily, nearing 10,500 units. Despite an especially weak January for the new-housing market overall, sales jumped in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, and Ofakim.

By Nimrod Buso, Nadlan Center

In January 2026, 7,010 homes were sold, according to data published today (Thursday) by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. Of these, around 2,300 homes, or about 33% of the total, were new apartments, and 27.4% were sold through government subsidy programs. About 4,710 homes were second-hand apartments, accounting for 67.2%. As we reported this week, these are particularly weak sales figures, reflecting a decline even compared with the already low figures recorded in 2025.

A breakdown of sales volumes by geographic region for the period from November 2025 through January 2026 shows that the Central District, with 2,309 units, and the Tel Aviv District, with 2,089 units, led in the number of new apartments sold. By comparison, in the Jerusalem District, only 660 units were sold during this period. Sales of second-hand apartments were led by the Central District, with 3,586 units, and the Southern District, with 2,928.

Among the cities, the highest sales volumes for new apartments between November and January were recorded in Tel Aviv–Yafo, with 956 transactions, reflecting a 72% jump compared with the previous three-month period, August through October 2025. The city ranking second in sales volume was Ofakim with 706 units, followed by Jerusalem with 522, then Be’er Yaakov with 510, Petah Tikva with 351, and Herzliya with 309, which posted a fourfold increase compared with the previous three months.

Jerusalem led second-hand apartment sales during the same period with 1,007 units, followed by Haifa with 960, Tel Aviv–Yafo with 838, Be’er Sheva with 693, and Ashkelon with 527.

Jerusalem Tops 10,000 Unsold Apartments

At the end of January 2026, the number of new apartments still available for sale stood at about 86,290 units, a figure reflecting a slight increase of 200 apartments compared with the end of December 2025, and marking the highest level ever recorded.

Jerusalem, which last month overtook Tel Aviv as the city with the largest supply of homes still available for sale, maintained its position with about 10,340 unsold apartments, roughly 100 more than at the end of December. It was followed by Tel Aviv–Yafo with about 9,650 unsold apartments. Bat Yam had 5,059 apartments still available for sale, and Haifa had 4,246.

Among cities not classified as major, those with the most new apartments still available for sale were Lod with 3,010, Kiryat Gat with 2,250, Be’er Yaakov with 1,700, and Ramat Hasharon with 1,530.