The number of new, unsold apartments in Israel reached a total of 63,580 units by the end of November 2023, which is about 1,400 more than the previous month of October, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
This is also a stark change from before the initial interest rate hike in April 2022, when contractors held around 43,927 apartments. This means there has been an increase of approximately 45% new and unsold apartments in just a year and a half.
Over half of the apartments held by contractors in November were concentrated in the Tel Aviv (30.5%) and central (25.2%) areas. The remaining apartments were primarily located in the South (15.5%), Jerusalem (10.9%), Haifa (7.7%), the North (6.2%), and Judea and Samaria (3.8%).
Additionally, the CBS report revealed that during the three-month period between September and November 2023, only 4,760 new apartments were sold, indicating a decline of 45.5% compared to June through August 2023, when 7,980 apartments were sold.
Developments in Israeli apartment sales
There were also notable developments in terms of sales figures. In November alone, 1,480 new apartments were sold - a 52.8% increase compared to the previous month, which was affected by the war between Israel and Hamas.
After adjusting for seasonal variations, this translates to approximately 1,560 apartments, showing a 21.3% increase compared to October 2023. However, when compared to November 2022, there was a decline of 51.5%, with a more modest adjusted seasonal-related decrease of 43.4%.
The data analysis shows an average monthly decline of 3.7% from August 2021 to February 2023.
Conversely, from March 2023 to September 2023, there was an average monthly increase of 2.5%.
In terms of municipalities, the report highlights that the highest percentage of new apartment sales between September and November 2023 was observed in the center (23.1%) and the South (20.2%).
In terms of cities with the highest number of apartments sold during this period, Jerusalem topped the list with 526 apartments, followed by Ashdod (291), Ashkelon (234), and Tel Aviv-Jaffa (214).