April sees a 78% surge in apartment sales, surprising amid wartime

Ready for the next surprising statistic? In April 2024, half a year after the October 7th attack that shook the entire country, an incredible jump of 78.4% was recorded in the number of apartments sold, compared to the corresponding month last year (April 2023). 

Adjusting for seasonality, this is a 30% increase, an equally impressive figure considering the period. Compared to the previous month (March 2024), a decrease of 13.6% was recorded, and excluding seasonality, the trend is reversed, showing an increase of 3.7%. This is according to the report of real estate transactions published on June 10th by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The report also examined the market activity for a longer period of three months, between February and April 2024. The data shows that in these months approximately 22,640 apartments were sold, an increase of 35.4% compared to the corresponding period last year (February-April 2023) and of 23.3% compared to the previous three months (November 2023-January 2024).

Of the total apartments sold, 47.6% were new apartments (about 10,780 apartments), with about a fifth (21.1%) of these sold with government subsidies. Compared to the corresponding period last year (February-April 2023), an increase of 57.3% was observed in the new apartments sold and a 30.3% increase compared to the previous three months (November 2023-January 2024). Second-hand apartments made up 52.4% of the total apartments sold in the three months February-April 2024, approximately 11,860 apartments. 

For second-hand apartments, a 20.2% increase was observed compared to the corresponding period last year, and a 17.5% increase compared to the previous three months.

Despite the war: Ashkelon and Ashdod lead the rankings

A geographic review of the transactions made by CBS ( Central Bureau of Statistics ) reveals that the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Lod lead in the number of new apartments sold in the three months of February-April 2024, with more than 400 apartments each. In second-hand apartments sold during that period, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beer Sheva led with about 800 apartments each.

In terms of regions, the central district leads with 25.9% of the total apartments sold in the three months above. Almost a third of the new apartments (28.2%) and about a quarter of the total number of second-hand apartments (23.9%) were sold in this district. It is followed by the southern district with 20.6% of the total apartments sold: 21.5% of the new apartments and 19.8% of the total second-hand apartments.

Contractors are left with a surplus of apartments in Tel Aviv

At the end of April 2024, the stock of new apartments remaining for sale was about 66,040, and the number of months of supply (the number of months that will pass until all the remaining apartments are sold) was 18.3. 32.8% of the remaining apartments for sale are in the Tel Aviv District (21,630 apartments) and 24.4% in the Central District (16,110 apartments). 

In the large cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, Tel Aviv-Yafo leads with approximately 9,010 apartments remaining for sale, followed by Jerusalem with approximately 5,990 apartments remaining for sale.