The average mortgage in July was close to the all-time record. After the peak recorded in March this year of NIS 1.129 million for an individual mortgage, and a certain decline in the following months, July came along with a rise to NIS 1.117 million, very close to the March figure. The total of new loans that month was NIS 11.563 billion.
The housing market has been slow for a while, but the rate of mortgage loan taking has not fallen. On the contrary, it looks as though 2026 will see one of the highest totals of new mortgage loans in a single year, if not the highest.
Accordingly, the average mortgage loan is also very high, at levels not seen even in the housing market’s peak years of 2021-2022. At this point it’s important to mention that the average price of a home in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, was NIS 2.435 million, 3.7% higher than in the first quarter and 7.9% higher than in the second quarter of 2025, a trend that could go some way towards explaining the rise in the average mortgage.
Luxury homes continue to account for a large share of new mortgages. In July, mortgage loans amounting to NIS 1.67 billion, about 14.5% of the total, were taken on properties worth NIS 5 million or more, and 43% of new mortgages were on properties worth NIS 3 million or more.
What of the "bullet" and "balloon" loans, which mainly serve contractors offering loans as part of special offers that have become very common in the residential market in the past few years? The total of these loans in July 2026 was high, at NIS 1.609 billion. Only in three months in the past has the total of bullet and balloon loans been higher.
The total of new mortgage loans in July was, however, very high, and so the proportion of contractors’ loans actually fell slightly, to 14% in July 2026, from 14.7% in June and 15.4% in April and May.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 25, 2026.
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