Surprisingly, not Tel Aviv: The unexpected city with the most renters in Israel

As of July 2023, there were approximately 2.9 million apartments and residential housing units in Israel, of which approximately 2.5 million were owned, constituting approximately 70.8% of all apartments, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

About 829,000 of these apartments were for rent (approximately 28.6%), and 17,500 apartments were in private sheltered housing (around 0.6%). The Central Bureau of Statistics stated that between 2013-2023, the two-year average growth rate of the number of rented apartments was 3.4%, higher than the average annual growth rate of all apartments, which was 1.9%.

The segmentation of the data shows that about 79.9% of apartments for rent are rented by private individuals, about 6.7% are by kibbutzim and moshavim, about 3.8% by companies, and 1.4% by other parties (and another 3% that are unknown). The highest proportion of apartments for rent is in the Tel Aviv district – approximately 38.9% - and the lowest in the Northern district, at 20.1%.

Which city has the most renters?

The city with the highest proportion of apartments that are rented is Harish, a city in the Haifa District, sitting at around 50.5%. Harish is followed by Tel Aviv-Yafo at 47.8% and Givatayim at 41.1%. The data collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics also shows that between 2013-2023, in 13.8% of rented apartments, the tenants changed. In Beersheba and Tel Aviv-Yafo, the proportion of apartments where tenants changed was significantly higher than the national average – 22% and 21.7%, respectively.

In the big cities, which are constituted having a population exceeding 100,000 residents, it was found that in buildings with 11-20 apartments, the rental rate is the highest (35.7%), compared to buildings hosting 1-2 apartments (14.8%).

The Central Bureau of Statistics also stated that in 2023, the number of apartments in public housing was 59,800 (45,900 apartments and another 13,900 public sheltered housing apartments). This is compared to the 67,1000 apartments in 2013.

The data also shows that in 2023, about 2.65 million apartments were in municipalities and local councils. From this number, about 1.86 million apartments are owned and around 756,700 apartments are rented. There are approximately 251,000 apartments in regional developments, of which about 178,600 were owned (71.1%) and about 72,400 were rented (28.9%). 

In terms of demographics, the older the age group, the likelier they are to own apartments rather than rent apartments as tenants. In 2022, the rate of apartments for rent in Israel was 28.1%, while in European Union countries, the average rate of households living as tenants was 30.9%.