According to Central Bureau of Statistics data published Monday, the real estate market continued its upward trend in April. 6,900 home purchases were recorded in April, an increase of 78% compared to April last year. The rate of increase in new home transactions is 120%. Despite all this, the supply level is still high.
By Nimrod Bosu, Nadlan Center
According to data on home sales transactions published today by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the upward demand for homes continued in April. 6,890 new and second-hand home purchase transactions were carried out in April 2024. This represents an increase of 78.4% in the volume of transactions compared to April last year. Excluding seasonal factors such as holidays, the rate of increase is 30%.
Although the data reflect a decline of about 13.5 percent compared to March 2024, when about 8,000 homes were sold, it should be remembered that during April, there was the Passover holiday, during which almost no transactions were recorded.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv’s real estate market awakening stands out as it was the hardest city hit during the slowdown. Yet, in the three months of February to April, transaction volumes in the city have risen sharply in both the new home purchase and second-hand sectors.
About 3,200 of the home purchases were new homes, reflecting an increase of 118.6% (and 50% considering seasonality) compared with April last year. 17.4% of those apartments were sold with government subsidies. 3,690 of the transactions were carried out in the second-hand market—an increase of 54% compared to April ’23.
The center leads in transactions; volume declining in the Jerusalem district
Geographically, the Central District leads in the volume of transactions – both of new and second-hand apartments. During the 3 months of February to April, 3,042 new apartments were purchased in the Central District, 2,316 new apartments in the Southern District, 1,918 new apartments in the Tel Aviv District, about 1,400 apartments in the Haifa District, 1,138 new apartments in the Northern District, and only 759 apartments in the Jerusalem District.
The Jerusalem District was the only district in which the number of new homes sold in February–April declined 17.6 percent compared with the preceding three months (November 2023 to January 2024). The Haifa District saw the sharpest growth between periods, with an increase of 54.6%, and the Tel Aviv District was in second place, with an increase of 49% in sales volume.
The Central District also leads the second-hand transactions sector, with 2,831 transactions conducted from February to April. It was followed by the southern districts (2,350), Haifa (2,200), Tel Aviv (1,669), the north (1,327), and Jerusalem (1,128). In all districts, there was an increase compared to the previous three months. This time, in the Jerusalem district, it was the sharpest, at 31.6%, followed by the Tel Aviv district with 27.7%.
Jerusalem leads in second-hand deals, and Petah Tikva is in the top five
Tel Aviv-Yafo leads in the volume of new apartments purchased at the city level, with 605 new home purchases in February-April, reflecting a 60% jump compared to the previous three months. It is followed by Jerusalem with about 500 transactions, Ashkelon (489), and Ashdod (458). Lod closes the top five with 431 deals—a threefold increase compared to the previous three months.
Jerusalem leads the second-hand transactions market with 822 transactions, followed by Haifa (798), Be’er Sheva (792), Tel Aviv-Yafo (475), and Petah Tikva (418). Here, too, Tel Aviv’s growth rate in the number of transactions among the large cities is the highest, reflecting an increase of 41%. Significant increases were also recorded in Petah Tikva – 32% and in Jerusalem – about 30%.
About 66,000 new apartments remained unsold, “on the shelf” at the end of April. This is a continuation of the slow decrease in the supply level, with 66,700 unsold homes at the end of March. However, from a multi-year perspective, unsold homes are still considered high.