Only 6,350 new homes were sold between August and October 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, 20% down from the corresponding period of 2022, and the lowest figure for new home sales in that three-month period over the past five years. After deducting new homes in government subsidized programs, the figure fell by 30%. The low figure is explained by the High Holidays followed by the start of the war.
The low sales figure combined with the large number of building starts in recent years also meant that the unsold inventory of new homes rose by 1,000 to 62,000 homes. The unsold inventory of new homes has risen by 47% over the past two years.
56% of unsold new homes are in the Tel Aviv and Central Regions, 16% are in the Southern Region, 11% in the Jerusalem Region and 17% in the Haifa and Northern Regions.
Despite the expected low August-October figure there are some signs that sales of new homes are recovering. While sales of new homes were on the decline between August 2021 and March 2023, sales have been rising 2.5% on average per month, not including October when just 930 deals were completed in the wake of the start of the war.
Jerusalem led in the sale of new homes between August and October 2023 with 540 home sold, up 21.7% from May-July 2023, followed by Ashkelon 533 (up 45.5%), Ashdod 484 (up 222.4%), Rosh Ha'ayin 276 (up 273%), Tel Aviv 262 (down 32%), Petah Tikva 227 (down 15.4%), Beit Shemesh 214 (up 43.8%), Sderot 165 (down 66.7%), Rishon Lezion 164 (down 69.2%), Ramat Hasharon 160 (up 92.8%), Beer Yaakov 152 (up 425.5%), and Ramat Gan 152 (up 9.5%).
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 14, 2023.
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