(Live here real estate) - Data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reveal that Haifa is in 15th place in the sale of new apartments, in the period between the months of March - May 2024. In these months, 260 new apartments were sold in Haifa. Compared to the months of December 2023 - February 2024, in which Haifa has 234 new apartments, an increase of 11.1%. The cities that overtake Haifa in terms of new apartment sales are Netivot, Ramat Gan, Ofkim, Acre, Lod, Ashkelon and more.
Apartments have a second
The CBS report also reveals encouraging data - when Haifa is in second place in terms of second-hand apartment sales. In the months of March - May 2024, 829 second-hand apartments were sold in Haifa compared to 806 second-hand apartments in the months of December 2023 - February 2024. This is a decrease of 1.9%. The only city that overtakes Haifa in terms of second-hand apartment sales is Jerusalem. It should be noted that the last time data from the Central Bureau of Statistics was published, Haifa was in first place in the sale of second-hand apartments.
How many new apartments are left?
The CBS also examined the number of new apartments remaining for sale in the major cities. Haifa is in 13th place with 1,156 new apartments remaining for sale. In the other major cities, the supply of new apartments remaining for sale is much larger, with 8,732 apartments in Tel Aviv and 6,354 new apartments in Jerusalem.
If you check the state of apartment sales this year compared to last year in the country as a whole, a sharp increase in apartment sales is evident, both when it comes to new apartments and second-hand apartments. The comparison between May 2024 and May 2023 reveals a 29.8% increase in the sale of apartments, with the distribution being a 60.3% increase in the sale of new apartments and a 10.8% increase in the sale of second-hand apartments. The comparison between March - May 2024 and March - May 2023 is even more dramatic and reveals an increase of 37% (a 63.7% increase in the sale of new apartments and a 19.4% increase in the sale of second-hand apartments).
A dramatic increase in apartment prices
The real estate appraiser and lawyer Dr. Assaf Gastfreund refers both to the sales of second-hand apartments in Haifa and to the increase in prices in the city, since the war began: "Unfortunately, there is not much new construction in Haifa, unlike Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which explains the low amount of apartments left. In Jerusalem there is a lot of new construction and there is a mayor who is an enthusiastic supporter of construction. In Tel Aviv there is a lot of TMA 38, mainly in the Madinah Square area and evacuation projects Building, in Haifa is only now being built, and there are no apartments for sale yet. I hope this will change, and there will be a lot of new construction as part of urban renewal. In Haifa, you buy second-hand apartments, because there are not many new apartments.
There has been a dramatic increase in prices in Haifa in recent months, far above the national average and the average in the Haifa district. My explanation for the price increase in Haifa is that a large part of the investors would have put a lot of money in the far north - like Kiryat Shmona, because there is a college there and the prices are cheap.

"I would be happy if they bought apartments in Haifa to live in"
"In Haifa there is not much to do with a million NIS. Buying the apartments in Kiryat Shmona worked well until October (2023) and then people realized that the prices in Kiryat Shmona are cheap, but there is a reason for that, and that is because the place is near the border and is more dangerous. The students were evacuated from Kiryat Shmona and the college was shut down," says Gastfreund.
"Today, investors tell themselves that buying an investment apartment in Kiryat Shmona may be problematic and it is better to buy for 1.3 million in Haifa, which is not threatened to the same extent as Kiryat Shmona and is cheaper compared to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The transactions from Kiryat Shmona did not go to Tel Aviv, but to Haifa. I don't believe it That the immigration in Haifa will continue at this rate, I also believe that the war will end and investors will return to buy in Kiryat Shmona. Maybe the immigration will continue, but not at this rate. I would be happy if the immigration in Haifa was a result of people wanting to live in Haifa and not because of the war."
"At the beginning of the war there was a halt, but the market is back in action"
Alex Kramer, one of the owners of the residential real estate company: "After the start of the war, the country was in silence for a month. In September 2023, things returned to what they were before the war. Until the war broke out, potential apartment buyers were disturbed by the high interest rates and waited for them to drop, so there were far fewer apartment sales. But in the end, people have to buy apartments, because They sold theirs. And those who had to buy an apartment eventually did. People who were debating whether to buy or not, realized that the prices continued to rise, so they might not be able to afford to buy an apartment (on the other hand, there were many first-time buyers). Investors who were afraid to buy an apartment after the war broke out and also from the high interest rates, but they realized that the prices would continue to climb (apartments of a million plus NIS). Today, investors are looking for apartments in Pinoy Binoy complexes. A lot of investors are flocking and buying. Many investors think about their children who will not be able to buy apartments on their own and want to help them. There are many alternatives abroad, but many people want to keep their money in Israel."

"Until the beginning of the war, we sold apartments in the projects," says Kramer, "there was an increase in interest rates, so people stopped buying in the projects. Bankers came up with ideas for financing conditions - pay at the moment of purchasing the apartment, let's say 20% and in two years 80% without linking to the index. These are things that did not exist when the interest rate stood at zero. This created an opportunity for the people, because they were exempt from the linkage. The fear of the investors is from uncertainty and rising prices as a result of anti-Semitism, which encourages an increase.
We now see the new construction in Navot Navon, but it is not enough and there is still a lack of apartments here. People started buying apartments in the projects because of the concerns and financing agreements. This gave a boost to the market, and quite a few of the people who sat on the fence in the projects and did not buy, regret it. We have been doing more deals lately. Prices, accordingly, rise. Every two weeks we receive price updates from the developers. The entrepreneur, who gives the financing agreements, raises the prices in order to finance it. Even in the sale of second-hand apartments we do not always see a crazy increase in prices. We see an increase of 1-2% percent and sometimes also a few decreases. In the 2 million plus apartments you don't see big fluctuations in prices. If you take all types of apartments, you see this increase. I don't see a logical reason why apartment prices won't continue to rise, maybe not by high percentages."
"Hundreds of new units were approved in 4 months"
Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Subcommittee for Planning and Construction, Sarit Golan Steinberg:
"The data published by the Bureau of Statistics reflect the activity of the previous city leadership, who really presented very low-intensity development and there was no actual construction in the city. In the four months that the planning and construction subcommittee has been working, we have approved hundreds of new units. Just yesterday the Planning and Construction Committee approved a construction project on the Freud slopes above Naot Peres of 342 units.

"We started to sign building permits on plots of Navot Navon, southern entrances 2," continues Golan Steinberg. "We started giving permits there, while at the same time we are in contact with the relevant parties to remove the barriers to the development of the new neighborhood. We are holding dozens of meetings with entrepreneurs and residents in urban renewal complexes while giving priority to residential buildings, which are defined as dangerous.
In the last 4 months, the committee succeeded in promoting several urban renewal complexes. As part of the need to promote the approval of plans for new apartments with the right mix, we are working together with the mayor and the director of the municipality to optimize the work processes for the director of engineering. In recent times, tenders have been advertised for the recruitment of a city engineer and the director of the construction licensing department. Along with this, we reopened the engineering director's call center, which was closed in the previous term, and we are doing everything to create planning certainty, so that the residents know from the beginning the position of the engineering director as a whole in relation to the proposed planning. I do everything to avoid situations where entrepreneurs are required for more than 6-7 years to come up with dozens of design alternatives."
Only in a country full of friar baboons, a threatened city raises housing prices, people have no sense and of course this is also the work of crooks like the stars here in the pictures
Most of the sharp apartments are built in luxury neighborhoods and the prices accordingly. In Hadar there are many buildings for demolition and rebuilding but they are not built. The contractors build where they can make money, give them incentives to build in Hadar as well.