Home sales and rentals across Israel

With interest rates rising, inflation biting, and reports on the ground that the housing market is quiet, The Times of Israel looks at what is happening to the average property changing hands in 2023. Round-up looks at three-to-four-room (two-to-three-bedroom) homes and for how much. The bad news for buyers is that so far - certainly in the most popular places to live - there’s no evidence that prices are actually falling.

Sales. 10 cities

1. In Tel Aviv, 16 three-to-four-room apartments were registered as sold since the start of the year. Six of those were priced below the NIS 3 million ($864,000) average price for a Tel Aviv apartment, according to the latest figures. In the first week of January, a four-room property on Yagur Street in the (less in-demand) southeast Tel Aviv, close to Givatayim sold for NIS 2.9 million ($822,000). Built in 2022, it covers 92 square meters (990 square feet) on the fourth of six floors.
2. In Givatayim itself, there have been ten transactions since the start of the year of three-to-four-room apartments. Last year, over the same time frame with the same features, 60 properties changed hands in the city. The Tel Aviv suburb has seen an average apartment price this year of NIS 2.5 million ($720,000), almost exactly between the Tel Aviv average and apartment price averages in the rest of the country - at about NIS 1.9 million ($550,000). But in mid-January, a 1960-built three-room apartment on Katzenelson Street in the heart of Givatayim went for NIS 1.9 million. The space covers 102 square meters (1,100 square feet) and the apartment is on the first floor.
3. In Rishon LeZion, 17 out of 30 homes sold since the beginning of the year with three-to-four rooms went for less than NIS 2 million ($570,000). In mid-January, a house on Jerusalem Street in the Neve Hadarim neighborhood in Rishon Lezion changed hands for NIS 1.9 million. It has three rooms (two bedrooms) on the third of three floors, offering 72 square meters (775 square feet) of space in a 1960 building.
4. In Petah Tikva, 59 homes with three-to-four rooms have sold since the first of January. Of those, 20 were below the national average price, and a further 34 were below the Tel Aviv average. In early January, a three-room apartment on Katz Michal Leib Street measuring 73 square meters (785 square feet) in a 1980 building sold for NIS 1.9 million.
5. Further north along the coast, in Netanya, 67 three- and four-room apartments have changed hands so far this year, with 26 of them sold for below NIS 2 million. In mid-January, a four-room apartment measuring 96 square meters (1,035 square feet) on David Raziel Street in the center of town sold for NIS 1.99 million ($584,000). The apartment is on the second of eight floors, in a 1970 building.
6. In Haifa, there were 52 sales of three-to-four-room apartments since the start of the year, with a majority (33) below the average apartment price. On International Street, in the Ramat Alon neighborhood, a four-room apartment sold in the middle of January for NIS 1.92 million ($568,000). The apartment is on the sixth of seven floors, measuring 97 square meters (1,045 square feet), in a building set to be completed in 2025.
7. In Kiryat Motzkin, near Haifa, four homes of three-to-four rooms have changed hands so far in 2023. The average price was NIS 1.6 million ($460,000). In the second half of January, a four-room apartment on Anielewicz Street sold for NIS 1.49 million ($440,828). It was a top-floor apartment in a six-story building built in 1997, with 118 square meters (1,270 square feet) of space.
8. In Jerusalem, which tends to have higher-than-average prices and to attract large numbers of foreign investors, there have been 102 sales of three- and four-room apartments since January 1. Just 27 of them were priced below NIS 2 million. One of them, a three-room apartment on Meir Balaban Street in the suburb of Neve Yaakov went for NIS 1.93 million ($548,000). The apartment measures 58 square meters (624 square feet) in a 1970 building.
9. Beersheba has seen 149 property transactions involving three- and four-room apartments since the start of the year. Only two of them topped NIS 2 million. One of the most expensive deals, on Ya’akov Cohen Street close to Soroka Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was for NIS 1.95 million ($572,000) to purchase a four-room apartment, built in 2011, on the 16th of 21 floors, with 147 square meters (1,580 square feet) of space.
10. Also known for lower-than-average prices, 22 three- and four-room apartments have changed hands in Tiberias in 2023, with only two of them costing more than NIS 2 million. In early January, on Rav Joseph Shalom Elyashiv Street on the outskirts of town, a four-room apartment sold for NIS 1.78 million (about $513,000). It measures 136 square meters (1,465 square feet) in a building that was completed in 2021.

Rentals. 6 cities

Rental prices have also been rising steeply, and anecdotally there are many stories of people choosing to move rather than accept a steep increase in cost from their landlords. 

1. In Tel Aviv, a three-room apartment is available, unfurnished, in the south-east of the city on Ba’al Akeda Street. It measures 85 square meters (915 square feet) with a small garden and is going for NIS 6,500 ($1,870) per month, excluding bills.
2. In Jerusalem, on Rashbag Street in Katamonim, there’s an unfurnished, recently renovated three-room apartment available for NIS 5,950 ($1,715), excluding bills. It covers 82 square meters (880 square feet), including a 12-square-meter (130 square feet) balcony.
3. A four-room furnished apartment in Netanya on Gershon Shats Street, south of the center of town, is going for NIS 6,750 ($1,950) per month. The space covers 95 square meters (1,020 square feet), and is on the sixth of nine floors, with a parking space included.
4. In Haifa, NIS 5,850 ($1,685) per month, excluding bills, would pay for a four-room unfurnished apartment on Benjamin Disraeli Street in the center of the city. The recently refurbished apartment measures 110 square meters (1,185 square feet) and is on the first of two floors.
5. In Tiberias, on Shimon Pras Street, close to Highway 77 on the edge of the city, a four-room furnished apartment is available for NIS 5,650 ($1,625) per month, excluding bills. The apartment has a balcony and 112 square meters (1,205 square feet) of space. It is on the top floor of eight and comes with a dedicated parking space.
6. On Beit El Street in the Tet neighborhood in Beersheba, a 120-square-meter (1,290 square feet) unfurnished apartment with four rooms is available to rent for NIS 5,500 ($1,585) per month including local property tax, but excluding all other bills. The apartment is on the seventh of 23 floors.