(live here) – Haifa tops the sales chart for second-hand apartments in Israel – this is according to recently published data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the report published by the bureau, between November 2024 and January 2025, 935 second-hand apartments were sold in Haifa – an increase of 10% compared to the three months preceding this period. On the other hand, in the field of new apartment sales, Haifa is in a relatively low position, which may indicate the high demand for existing apartments in the city.
Haifa at the top
Haifa, according to the report, recorded the highest number of transactions in sales of second-hand apartments, with 935 apartments sold from November 2024 to January 2025. Haifa is ahead of Jerusalem, which is in second place with 908 second-hand apartments sold, and Be'er Sheva, which is in third place, where 3 apartments were sold during this period. These data reflect a continuing trend in which the existing apartment market in Haifa maintains high dynamism compared to other markets across the country.
Ranked low in new apartment sales
Compared to the lead in the second-hand apartment market, Haifa ranks only tenth in new apartment sales, with 334 transactions recorded in the last three months. This is a slight decrease of 2.3% compared to the previous quarter (August - October 2024), in which 342 new apartments were sold in the city. For comparison, Tel Aviv is at the top of the list of new apartment sales, with 871 apartments sold, and Jerusalem is right behind it, with 767 apartments sold in the same period.
Inventory of new apartments for sale – Haifa at the bottom of the list
Another interesting statistic is the number of new apartments remaining for sale in the city. As of January 2025, Haifa is in ninth place, with a stock of approximately 2,400 new apartments available. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem lead the list with 8,975 and 7,354 new apartments, respectively. These significant gaps indicate a low construction rate in Haifa, or alternatively, supply that does not match demand.
Prices continue to climb
The upward trend in housing prices in Israel continues, with the latest data indicating an overall increase of 1.2%, in the period between December 2024 and January 2025, compared to the previous two months (November-December 2024).
In the Haifa area, the increase is relatively moderate, reaching only 0.1%. However, when examining the annual change, the data indicates a significant price increase reaching 9.5% in the Haifa district in the period between December 2023 and January 2024, compared to the period between December 2024 and January 2025.
A 16.5% jump in apartment prices in 2024
The current increase in apartment prices in Haifa is not an isolated incident, but a direct continuation of a trend that was recorded throughout 2024. According to the data, apartment prices in the city increased by 16.5% over the past year, when comparing the last quarter of 2024 to the last quarter of 2023. This is a sharp increase that places Haifa among the leading cities in Israel in terms of increasing housing market prices.
Demand for existing apartments versus new construction
The gap between second-hand and new apartment sales raises questions about buyer preferences and the city's construction policy. The high demand for existing apartments may stem from more affordable prices or a better location, while the pace of new apartment construction has been relatively slow until recent months. A combination of smart urban planning and an increase in the supply of new apartments may change these trends, perhaps even in the near future.
After all the previous details, in the sequels, which are only a tip of the iceberg and present only a part of the reality, to which must be added many transactions of "housing for tenants" and the like, which do not always show actual occupancy, but rather, sometimes apartments intended for rent and not the transfer of new residents to Haifa, it is necessary to examine the reality as it is - on the one hand, Haifa's population is expected to grow, as a dormitory city, to provide a bed for workers in the central region, who rely on Israel Railways (after all, Haifa does not create high-quality, prestigious jobs with improved wage conditions as is the case in the demand areas in the Dan Bloc) - and the change comes because the land reserves around the Dan Bloc are dwindling and the public cannot pay the exorbitant amounts for apartments there - in Haifa it is cheaper. On the other hand, a very large number of apartments expected to be built in Haifa in the coming years are of extremely poor quality – as part of construction monstrosities – due to the severe overcrowding that leads to slum neighborhoods in difficult conditions and very high apartment maintenance costs in high-rise buildings – a format that, in addition to the collapse of infrastructure in general and transportation in particular, which is expected to stall all traffic in the city, is expected to lead to an unprecedented urban crisis that is upon us. The planning authorities and city officials have fallen for almost all the other planning pitfalls here – there are no sidewalks, approved roads are being canceled – new neighborhoods are being created with poor accessibility – a solution for closed neighborhoods is being ignored – and the path leads to paying huge amounts of compensation to landowners who have been abused and prevented from building for the past 50 years – which will drain all of Haifa's resource reserves, and even after government assistance, the city is heading in very, very bad directions – so they celebrate statistical data and reports initiated by developers – without understanding the data and without drawing the right conclusions.
The apartment reports in the construction clearance are determined according to interests and expectations and not according to transactions of a voluntary seller to a voluntary buyer - the interest of the developers and contractors, as well as the banks, is to show and present transactions at high prices in the project - which helps to sell apartments at a high price - to pull prices up - based on official reports from the State of Israel - those reports that were actually created by the developers or someone on their behalf. The prices of second-hand apartments, they are also determined by the developers or someone on their behalf - they are good prices and also indicate a trend of rising prices - this is good, the public of apartment buyers receives from every possible direction, especially from data reported on the websites of the State of Israel, the impression that prices are rising, rising and rising and if they do not rush to sign the purchase of an apartment at an excessive price, later the apartment will already be more expensive. Since demand is limited and it is not every day that a potential home buyer is born who can pay the exorbitant prices that are out of his reach, everything will, it seems, head towards an explosion when the extent of the collusion and manipulations regarding the spiraling prices of homes will slowly become clear.
The reported data details, among other things, many transactions originating from evacuation and construction projects, those projects that were mostly agreed upon between existing apartment owners and developers and contractors several years ago. After the agreements are signed and after years of preparing and approving new detailed plans, the town plan in the vernacular, and after receiving approval from the planning committees for the granting of building permits, the apartments are then divided between the developer and the existing apartment owners. After the division, transactions are reported to the tax authorities (which are published on the real estate information website and are subsequently reflected in the publications of the Central Bureau of Statistics). Then it is reported that dozens and sometimes hundreds of existing apartments were sold, usually on the same day, to an entrepreneur at a price, usually high (the entrepreneur is exempt from purchase tax and in fact there is an exemption from taxes) and on the same day transactions are reported regarding the same entrepreneur and the same existing apartment owners, whereby the same apartment owners purchase the new, alternative apartment from the entrepreneur, and at a high price, sometimes higher than the market price – again, tax-free. These are of course not transactions of a voluntary seller to a voluntary buyer and the sale values were set by the bank appraisers and the entrepreneurs and this has, in many cases, nothing to do with the correct price. This is how many transactions of the sale of second-hand apartments and new apartments are reported, the whole point of which is a construction clearance transaction in which an old apartment is upgraded to a renovated apartment – this is not a situation in which hundreds or thousands of new buyers discovered the city of Haifa for its advantages, but simply a kind of “renovation” and improvement to the existing situation and nothing more!!! Continued –
Indeed, there is an apparent increase in prices for new apartments. Example: Certain apartments are being sold for 2.5 million NIS and recently their price supposedly increased to 2.6 million NIS, according to reports from Real Estate Information and the Central Bureau of Statistics – in reality, the price has increased and the payment terms have changed – although it is 2.6 million NIS, but now you pay 10% and the balance, without linkage and interest, in 3 years at the time of delivery of the apartment – so is there really an increase in prices here or actually a decrease in prices that is not reflected in the authorities' reports? – You need to understand how to read the data and then the conclusions are not the same. Continued –
The reports on transactions from Real Estate Information (official data from the Tax Authority published online) as well as from the Marxist Bureau of Statistics – ostensibly indicate an increase in prices and a proliferation of transactions – and this ostensibly presents optimism about economic activity, and on the other hand, the problematic nature of a continued increase in prices. Are the conclusions correct? Are prices really rising? Is there really extensive activity selling second-hand apartments and new apartments? – The answer is that you need to understand how to read the data correctly, and then the conclusions are different – see further
Well done to you, the city of Haifa. Have a lovely day.