With volatile stock markets, growing anti-Semitism, increasing economic and political uncertainty, and reduced taxation on investors, many people are turning to Israel real estate for investment opportunities. Buyitinisrael receives messages from buyers and investors around the world looking for “something around a million shekels”. So, we decided to investigate real estate prices across the country and address a commonly asked question: “Where can I buy an apartment in Israel for a million shekels?”
Despite the high cost of housing, it is possible to buy an apartment in Israel for a million shekels or less in most cities, including the most desired city of Jerusalem, as well as some parts of the expensive Gush Dan region. In Haifa and Be’er Sheva, you can even buy an apartment for three to four hundred thousand shekels. Buyitinisrael went to ten cities to see what you could buy for a million shekels or less:
1. Jerusalem
While Jerusalem is the capital, and one of the most expensive cities in Israel, the range of real estate prices in the city is vast. This is largely due to the fact that the eastern part, which moved to Israeli sovereignty only after the Six-Day War in 1967, is considered to be less valuable than the Western section.
Indeed, in three eastern-Jerusalem neighborhoods, Neve Ya’akov, Pisgat Zeev and Gila, deals have been closed, in recent months, with the sale of two-room apartments, of approximately 50 square meters, at prices between 910,000 to 980,000 shekels. However, buyers in these areas must bear in mind that the residences in these neighborhoods are adjacent to Palestinian neighborhoods and villages. Accordingly, although the level of security is relatively high, this location will not suit everybody.
2. Haifa
In downtown Haifa, there is a wide choice of old, 3-room apartments priced between 300,000 and 500,000 shekels.
In the slightly more expensive Hadar haCarmel neighborhood, the price of 3-room apartments ranges from 700,000 to 800,000 shekels, and the price of 4-room apartments ranges from 800 to 900,000 shekels. In a number of new projects built in the neighborhood, you can even purchase a brand-new apartment for a million shekels.
In the Hadar Elyon and French Carmel neighborhoods, a range of 3-room apartments is available at prices between nine hundred thousand to a million shekels.
3. Be’er Sheva – Buy an apartment in Israel
The southern city of Be’er Sheva, also known as the “Capital of the Negev”, is considered a traditional destination for Israel real estate investors, and is the only one out of four metropolitan cities in Israel where 4-room apartments, and even some 5-room apartments, are available for less than a million shekels.
Most of the supply is concentrated in the older neighborhoods, downtown. In Neighborhood 5, in the center of the city, the price of 4-room apartments of 90 square meters ranges from 750,000 to 900,000 shekels, and in the slightly more expensive Neighborhood 2, 3-room apartments cost 800,000 shekels, and 4-room apartments between 900,000 to a million shekels. In the cheaper Neighborhood 4, which has become increasingly popular among students, three-room apartments are priced at 600,000 shekels and 4 rooms at 800,000 shekels.
In the Ramot neighborhood, in the north of the city, three-room apartments can be purchased in new buildings for about 900,000 shekels.
4. Netanya
Netanya is one of the largest cities in Israel. Well known for its long stretch of coast that attracts thousands of tourists every summer, the city is a popular destination among Jews from all over the world who wish to buy an apartment in Israel.
The supply of apartments for less than 1 million shekels can be found mainly in projects in the south of the city, built during the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the Ramat Yadin neighborhood (also known as the Dora neighborhood), the average price of a 2-room apartment of 35 to 50 square meters is 800,000 shekels, while 3-room apartments of 50-60 square meters sell for 850,000 shekels to a million shekels.
Another residential area is Kiryat Nordau, where 3-room apartments consisting of 50-60 square meters, can be purchased between nine hundred thousand to a million shekels. In the center of the city you can find 3-room apartments of 60 square meters for about 1 million shekels.
5. Petah Tiqwa – Buy an apartment in Israel
Petah Tiqwa is one of Israel’s largest and most central cities. Unlike most of its neighbors in the expensive Gush Dan area, there are still transactions under the million-shekel threshold, although few and far between.
In the city center, a number of transactions have been signed in recent months with 2-room apartments of approximately 40 square meters, at a price between 900,000 to 1.1 million shekels. In the old Joseftal neighborhood in the east of the city, the price of three-room apartments is 800,000 to 900,000 shekels.
6. Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh is one of the cities that has grown at the largest rate in recent years, with massive construction continuing these days. The city has become a sought-after destination for an ultra-Orthodox population, a large proportion of which are from English-speaking countries, which has resulted in significant price increases. Today, 2 and 3-room apartments can still be found in the old city center area, at prices between 800,000 shekels and a million shekels.
7. Ashdod
Ashdod, located in the southern coastal strip of Israel, has undergone significant change in the past twenty years. What was once a relatively cheap peripheral city has now become a middle-class city, and prices have been adjusted accordingly. At the same time, it still has a relatively cheap supply of apartments in its old neighborhoods.
In the ultra-Orthodox Third District in the east of the city, there is a supply of two-bedroom apartments for 900,000 shekels to 1 million shekels, as is the case in Districts 6 and H.
8. Afula
In a city located in the Jezreel Valley in the north of the country, a large number of new apartments are offered for less than shekels 1 million.
In the new “Jezreel” neighborhood, built in recent years in the city, a new 4-room apartment of 100-110 square meters is priced at 850,000 shekels. 5-room apartments sell for less than a million – but usually only with a prolonged wait time of at least a year before construction is finished. In the new C1 neighborhood, prices are similar. In the center of the city you can purchase a 3-room apartment for 600-700,000 shekels, while 4-room apartments sell for 800-900,000 shekels for second-hand apartments, and 900,000 to 1 million shekels for a new apartment
9. Eilat
In the southern resort city of Eilat, apartment prices are relatively cheap and there is strong demand for rental apartments, especially from employees of the city’s extensive tourism industry, and students. Some short-term apartments are also rented for tourists visiting the city.
In the center of the city, you can find a wide range of 2-3-room apartments in a price range of 600,000 shekels to 1 million shekels, most of them old. New two-bedroom apartments of 40-50 square meters are also offered for approximately 1 million shekels. Most of the new construction in the city is concentrated in the southern Shemon neighborhood. There you can find three-bedroom apartments in the older buildings in the neighborhood, which are about 20 years old for 850,000 to shekels 1 million.
10. Nahariya
Despite its location in the far northern periphery of Israel, Nahariya is considered a quality city, and the hometown of some of Israel’s richest families, including food manufacturers Strauss, and Zuglubeck, as well as the Wertheimer family. Because of its remote location in the north of Israel’s coastline, not far from the Lebanese border, the prices of apartments are relatively low and can be found in a wide range of 4-room apartments, including new apartments that can be found for up to 1 million shekels.
