Israel’s housing market continues to stagnate, with more than 80,000 new apartments still on the market — most of them in Tel Aviv. According to new data released Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 7,670 apartments were sold across the country in August, an 8.9% drop compared with July and a 3.9% decline from the same month last year. When adjusted for seasonality, the decrease reached 13.8%.
Of the total apartments sold in August, 3,220 were new units — up 12.7% from July but down 7.4% year over year. Roughly 4,450 were secondhand homes, marking a 20.1% decline from July and a 1.1% drop compared with August 2024, or 12.8% after seasonal adjustment.
Between June and August 2025, about 22,170 apartments were sold nationwide — a 1.7% decrease compared with March–May 2025. Adjusted for seasonality, sales fell 8.1%. Compared with the same period in 2024, sales dropped 16.2%, or 22.1% after adjustment.
New apartments accounted for 36.5% of total sales during that period (about 8,100 units), with roughly 29% sold under government-subsidized “Discounted Apartment” programs. Sales of new apartments fell 2.8% compared with the previous three months and 28.1% compared with the same period last year — or 32% after seasonal adjustment.
Secondhand apartments made up 63.5% of sales (around 14,070 units), down 1.1% from the previous three months and 7.3% year over year. After adjustment, that decline deepened to 14.7%.
The CBS noted that overall sales trends show fluctuations over the past four years: from October 2021 to April 2023, total sales dropped by an average of 3.9% per month. Between May 2023 and June 2024, the market showed recovery, with a 2.5% monthly increase. However, since July 2024, the trend has reversed again, with an average monthly decline of 1.3%. A mild 0.5% uptick in recent months, the CBS cautioned, is not yet enough to indicate a true rebound.
As for new apartments, sales between August 2021 and March 2023 declined by 3.8% per month on average, followed by a 3.8% monthly increase between April 2023 and May 2024. From June 2024 to May 2025, sales again dropped by 2.6% per month.
Regional breakdown
The Central and Southern districts led in total sales, accounting for 24.2% and 22.5% of all transactions, respectively. In the Central District, 27.9% of new apartments and 22.1% of secondhand homes were sold. In the South, the figures were 25.5% and 20.7%, respectively.
Sales of new apartments declined in nearly all regions except Haifa, where a sharp 28.2% increase was recorded. In the secondhand market, mixed trends were observed: Jerusalem, the North, and the South saw increases, while Tel Aviv, the Central District, and Haifa experienced declines.
Among individual cities, Ofakim, Tel Aviv–Jaffa, Netanya, and Lod led new-home sales between June and August, each with more than 400 apartments sold. In the secondhand market, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Be’er Sheva led with more than 700 transactions each.
Unsold inventory keeps climbing
At the end of August, the number of new apartments remaining unsold reached 83,360 units, equivalent to a supply of about 28.4 months at the current sales pace. This represents a 1% rise from July and a 20.9% jump compared with August 2024.
Since April 2022, the number of unsold units has increased by an average of 1.5% per month. About 32% of the remaining apartments are located in the Tel Aviv District (26,660 units), and 23.7% in the Central District (19,780 units).
Among large cities with over 100,000 residents, Tel Aviv–Jaffa tops the list with around 10,420 unsold apartments, followed by Jerusalem with about 8,235.
Among mid-sized cities, the highest numbers of unsold new apartments were recorded in Lod (2,370), Be’er Ya’akov (2,220), Kiryat Ono (1,430), Ofakim (1,400), Ra’anana (1,370), Kiryat Bialik (1,180), Or Yehuda (1,070), and Kiryat Gat (1,030).