Amid weak sales at the start of 2025, the new apartment supply in Israel continues to grow rapidly. In April alone, just 2,350 new apartments were sold—a sharp 33% drop compared to April 2024. Despite a 44% decline from the previous quarter, Tel Aviv still led the country in new apartment sales between February and April.

By Doron Breitman, Nadlan Center

In April 2025, a total of 6,280 apartments were sold, according to data released on Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This marks a 24.6% decrease compared to the previous month and a 19.8% drop compared to April 2024. Of the total sold, 2,350 were new apartments—a 26.8% decline from the previous month and a steep 32.9% drop year over year. Additionally, 3,930 were secondhand apartments, reflecting a 23.1% decline from March and a 9.2% decrease compared to April of last year.

Alongside the decline in new apartment sales, there is a notable increase in the number of apartments “on the shelf,” meaning those available for sale. By the end of April 2025, the number of unsold new apartments stood at approximately 79,410. This represents a slight increase of 1.1% compared to March 2025 and a 20.5% increase compared to April 2024. Furthermore, 31.5% of the available new apartments are located in the Tel Aviv district, and 24.3% in the Central district.

Among large cities with populations over 100,000, Tel Aviv-Yafo leads with around 9,687 new apartments available for sale, followed by Jerusalem with 7,777, Bat Yam (4,331), Netanya (3,750), and Ramat Gan (3,649). Other leading cities in new apartment inventory that do not fall into the large-city category include Be’er Ya’akov (2,340), Lod (2,240), Kiryat Ono (1,430), Ra’anana (1,360), Kiryat Bialik (1,260), Or Yehuda (1,180), Ofakim (1,240), and Netivot (1,020).

From February to April 2025, approximately 22,430 apartments were sold, marking a 20.2% decrease compared to the previous three months (November 2024–January 2025). This drop is largely attributed to the spike in transactions that occurred in December ahead of the VAT increase to 18%. However, even compared to the same period last year (February–April 2024), there was a 10.2% decline, despite the effects of the “Swords of Iron” war that began on October 7, 2023.

Of the apartments sold during these three months, about 8,590 were new—a 33.1% drop compared to the previous quarter (November 2024–January 2025). Secondhand apartments made up 61.7% of total sales during the period, approximately 13,840 units. The secondhand market saw a 9.4% decline compared to the previous three months.

The data also show that the Central district led sales in February–April 2025, accounting for 25.5% of total apartment sales. In this district, 28.5% of all new apartments and 23.6% of secondhand units were sold. The Southern district followed with 21.3% of total sales: 23.3% of new units and 20% of secondhand. Tel Aviv district saw 16.3% of all transactions, comprising 18.4% of new apartment sales and 15.5% of secondhand.

It is worth noting that all districts saw a decline in new apartment sales compared to the previous quarter, with the most significant drops in Haifa (39.2%), the South (37.2%), and Tel Aviv (36.7%). Secondhand apartment sales also declined across all districts, with the most prominent decreases in the North (16%) and the South (11.3%).

Breaking down the data by municipality, Tel Aviv led new apartment sales with 553 units sold in February–April 2025—a 43.9% decrease from the previous quarter. It was followed by Jerusalem with 517 apartments sold (a 35.9% drop), Ofakim with 488 (36.5% decrease), Lod with 438 (a sharp 46.5% drop), and Ashdod with 426 units sold—an exception, showing a 25.3% increase.

In the secondhand market, Jerusalem led with 896 transactions (a 10.9% drop from the previous quarter). The rest of the top five included Haifa with 866 transactions (down 12.3%), Be’er Sheva with 748 (down 18.3%), Tel Aviv with 654 (down 5.6%), and Petah Tikva with 480 transactions (up 4.3%).