Apartment sales increased 19% in February despite ongoing Gaza war

Updated: Jun 24

New figures show housing market records 7,511 sales in month, led by new homes sold by contractors on the free market offering special deals, Finance Ministry report shows.

Israel’s housing market is showing signs of a recovery for a second month after taking a hit at the end of 2023, amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group.

The number of apartments sold in February rose 19 percent year-on-year, with 7,511 transactions recorded, but deal figures were still down 7% compared with January, according to the monthly real estate report by the Finance Ministry’s chief economist released on Thursday.

“A historic multi-year comparison of the number of home sales on the free market during the month of February beginning in 2000 showed that this February, figures were at the lower end, which is mainly due to a low level of secondhand transactions.” the Finance Ministry’s chief economist Shmuel Abramzon said in the report.

Transactions for secondhand residential units in February rose by a moderate 2% to 3,867 apartments, year-on-year, but were down 11% compared to the previous month.

What stood out in February were the sales of new homes by development and building companies, which amounted to 3,644, marking a sharp increase of 44% versus the same month last year, and a moderate decline of 2% from January.