Israel Real Estate Prices in 2026, City by City
An apartment in Israel sold for ₪2.33 million on average in the first quarter of 2026, but that figure hides a one-to-four gap between Beer Sheva and Tel Aviv. This page gives, for 15 cities, the average transaction price, the price per square metre, the one-year trend, and what each really costs in purchase tax and down payment depending on whether you are a resident or not.
The short answer
In the first quarter of 2026, an apartment in Israel sold for 2,330,000 ₪ on average (CBS). Tel Aviv is the most expensive city at 4,590,000 ₪, up +10.3% year over year; Beer Sheva is the cheapest of the large cities at 1,240,000 ₪. In between: Herzliya (3,850,000 ₪), Jerusalem (3,100,000 ₪), Haifa (1,800,000 ₪) and Ashkelon (1,640,000 ₪). The national trend is still upward, carried by Tel Aviv, the Sharon and Haifa, while Herzliya, Ashkelon and Bat Yam slipped slightly. On each of these prices, a non-resident adds 8% purchase tax and must put down 50%.
The figures to remember, Q1 2026
- National average price
- ₪2.33M
- Tel Aviv
- ₪4.59M
- Jerusalem
- ₪3.1M
- Beer Sheva
- ₪1.24M
- Biggest rise (large city)
- Kfar Saba +11.3%
- Bank of Israel rate
- 3.25%
All 15 cities in one table
The table below puts three things on one line: the average transaction price (CBS, Q1 2026), the range of prices per square metre observed between older stock and new builds, and what that average price costs in mas rechisha (purchase tax) for a resident buying their only home and for a non-resident. The last column is the 50% down payment a bank asks of a non-resident in practice. Taxes are computed with the same brackets as our purchase tax calculator; click a header to sort.
| City | Region | Average price | ₪/m² | 1 year | Tax, resident only home | Tax, non-resident | 50% down |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tel Aviv | Center | 4,590,000 ₪ | ₪45k–90k | +10.3% | 125,038 ₪ | 367,200 ₪ | 2,295,000 ₪ |
| Herzliya | Sharon | 3,850,000 ₪ | ₪30k–80k | −2.9% | 88,038 ₪ | 308,000 ₪ | 1,925,000 ₪ |
| Jerusalem | Jerusalem | 3,100,000 ₪ | ₪28k–60k | — | 50,538 ₪ | 248,000 ₪ | 1,550,000 ₪ |
| Haifa | North | 1,800,000 ₪ | — | +6.9% | 0 ₪ | 144,000 ₪ | 900,000 ₪ |
| Ashkelon | South | 1,640,000 ₪ | — | −3.2% | 0 ₪ | 131,200 ₪ | 820,000 ₪ |
| Beer Sheva | South | 1,240,000 ₪ | — | — | 0 ₪ | 99,200 ₪ | 620,000 ₪ |
| Ashdod | South | — | ₪18k–32k | — | — | — | — |
| Bat Yam | Center | — | — | −2.5% | — | — | — |
| Beit Shemesh | Jerusalem | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eilat | South | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hadera | North | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Modiin | Center | — | ₪24k–34k | — | — | — | — |
| Netanya | Sharon | — | ₪22k–45k | +8.2% | — | — | — |
| Raanana | Sharon | — | ₪30k–50k | — | — | — | — |
| Rishon LeZion | Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| National average | — | 2,330,000 ₪ | — | — | 12,294 ₪ | 186,400 ₪ | 1,165,000 ₪ |
How to read it: in Jerusalem, on the average price of 3,100,000 ₪, a resident buying their only home pays 50,538 ₪ in tax and a non-resident 248,000 ₪. In Haifa, Ashkelon and Beer Sheva, the average price sits below the ₪1,978,745 threshold: the resident pays nothing, the non-resident pays 8%. The cities without an average price (Netanya, Raanana, Ashdod, Modiin, Beit Shemesh, Bat Yam, Rishon LeZion, Eilat, Hadera) are those for which the CBS did not publish a usable average this quarter; for them we show only the trend and the price per m² where available, and we fill in the gaps at the next release.
How prices are measured, and why two sources never agree
Israel has two families of price figures, and they do not compare. The first comes from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS, known locally as the Lamas), which publishes every quarter the average price of dwellings sold, by district and by large city, from the transaction declarations filed with the tax authority. It is a realised price, the one written in the contract. The CBS also publishes a housing price index, which measures the change at constant quality and is the Bank of Israel’s reference.
The second family is asking prices on the listing portals, Yad2 and Madlan first among them. They are a few weeks fresher and broken down by neighbourhood and street, but they are display prices: the gap with the signed price is 3 to 8% in a normal market, more when sellers are slow to adjust. Madlan also publishes past transactions drawn from the tax file, which makes it a good complement for a given neighbourhood.
Short definition: the CBS average price is the mean of declared sale prices over a quarter, all sizes and conditions together. It rises when more large apartments or more new builds are sold, even if no single property gained value. To track the value of a given property, look at the price index; to know what a “typical” apartment costs, look at the average.
This page uses the CBS average price for city prices, the one-year change in that same average for the trend, and ranges of price per square metre observed on transactions and listings for the gap between older stock and new builds. The square metre is always gross: walls, balcony and a share of common areas included. To get to usable floor area, take off 15 to 20%, as explained on our page on gross vs net square metres. For American readers, one square metre is 10.76 square feet.
What moved in 2025-2026
Rates. The Bank of Israel brought its policy rate down to 3.25%, which puts prime at 4.75% in November 2026, with inflation at 1.6% over one year. After two years of expensive credit, the monthly payment on a mashkanta (mortgage) fell by a few hundred shekels per million borrowed, which reopened the market to households that had been waiting. Observed rates and how to read them are on the mortgage rates page.
New builds and their discounts. Developers are coming out of a period in which construction sites fell behind for lack of labour after October 2023, and in which the stock of unsold new apartments piled up. Their answer was commercial rather than a price cut: 20/80 payment schedules, even 10/90, where the buyer pays only 20% at signing and the rest at delivery, “gifts” (parking, kitchen, a year without indexation) and 5 to 10% discounts on the last units. The list price barely moves; the real price has fallen in many projects. These mechanisms, and their hidden cost when the balance is indexed, are explained in our guide to buying off-plan.
The war. Transactions collapsed at the end of 2023, resumed from spring 2024, and the central market was back to pre-war levels in 2025. Southern cities close to Gaza (Ashkelon: −3.2% year over year) and some northern cities took longer; Haifa is the exception at +6.9%, carried by catch-up and by new builds. Foreign demand, particularly American, British and French, strengthened from 2024 on Jerusalem, Netanya, Raanana and Tel Aviv.
Supply. The country delivers fewer homes than its population growth requires, and land is scarce in the center. That is the structural reason prices do not fall for long despite rates: each slowdown shows up as fewer transactions rather than lower prices, then as a catch-up. Tel Aviv at +10.3% and Kfar Saba at +11.3% year over year are this quarter’s illustration.
By region: Center, Jerusalem, Sharon, North, South
The Center (Gush Dan)
Tel Aviv dominates everything: 4,590,000 ₪ on average, ₪45k–90k per m², and a market where new builds sell above ₪60,000/m² in the northern neighbourhoods and on the seafront. Around it, the first ring (Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Rishon LeZion, Bat Yam) offers prices 25 to 45% lower with Tel Aviv 15 to 30 minutes away. Bat Yam, long the cheapest way onto the coast, is down 2.5% year over year after years of gains driven by urban renewal. Modiin, halfway to Jerusalem, draws English-speaking families for its schools and planned layout.
Jerusalem and its region
Jerusalem shows 3,100,000 ₪ on average and the widest spread in the country: ₪28k–60k per m² between urban-renewal neighbourhoods and Rehavia or Talbieh. Foreign demand, American and French above all, is concentrated in about ten neighbourhoods (Baka, Katamon, German Colony, Arnona, Bayit VeGan). Beit Shemesh, 30 minutes away, has become the overflow city for religious English-speaking families, with abundant new builds at markedly lower prices.
The Sharon and the coast
Herzliya (3,850,000 ₪, −2.9%) and Raanana (₪30k–50k per m²) form the residential top end for English speakers and tech executives; Herzliya Pituach, on the sea, is one of the two or three most expensive markets in the country. Netanya (₪22k–45k per m², +8.2% year over year) is the first choice of French buyers and popular with British ones: a new seafront at Ir Yamim, affordable older stock in the centre, an organised community. Kfar Saba, just behind, posts the biggest rise among large cities (+11.3%). Hadera, further north, is where prices drop off.
The North
Haifa (1,800,000 ₪, +6.9%) is the cheapest large city of the centre-north and the most dynamic this quarter, with a market split between the Carmel, expensive and old, and the lower neighbourhoods under renovation. Its university, the Technion and the port make it a solid rental market for an investor, at prices that keep a resident under the purchase tax exemption threshold.
The South
Ashdod (₪18k–32k per m²) is Israel’s second French city, with a new seafront and accessible older neighbourhoods. Ashkelon (1,640,000 ₪, −3.2%) suffered from its proximity to Gaza but remains the cheapest seaside city in the country. Beer Sheva (1,240,000 ₪) is the buy-to-let market par excellence, carried by the university, Soroka hospital and the army bases. Eilat is a market apart, driven by tourism and short-term rentals.
What ₪2M buys, city by city
A budget of ₪2,000,000 (about $555,000 at ₪3.6 to the dollar, £435,000 at ₪4.6 to the pound) is the psychological threshold for many foreign buyers, and it lands just above the 0% purchase tax band for a resident. Here is the gross floor area it buys in older stock, calculated on the low end of each city’s price-per-m² range.
| City | ₪/m² older stock | Area for ₪2M | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashdod | 18,000 ₪ | ≈ 111 m² (1194 sq ft) | 4-5 room family apartment |
| Netanya | 22,000 ₪ | ≈ 91 m² (979 sq ft) | 4 rooms |
| Modiin | 24,000 ₪ | ≈ 83 m² (893 sq ft) | 4 rooms |
| Jerusalem | 28,000 ₪ | ≈ 71 m² (764 sq ft) | 3 rooms |
| Raanana | 30,000 ₪ | ≈ 67 m² (721 sq ft) | 3 rooms |
| Herzliya | 30,000 ₪ | ≈ 67 m² (721 sq ft) | 3 rooms |
| Tel Aviv | 45,000 ₪ | ≈ 44 m² (473 sq ft) | studio or 2 rooms |
The same sum therefore buys a studio in Tel Aviv, a 3-room apartment in Jerusalem or Raanana, a 4-room in Netanya and a large 4-5 room in Ashdod. In Haifa, Ashkelon and Beer Sheva, ₪2M is above the city’s average price: it buys a recent 4-5 room apartment, or a new build. That is the central trade-off of a purchase in Israel: the city first, the floor area second. Note that Israelis count rooms, not bedrooms: a “4-room” apartment has three bedrooms and a living room.
From average price to real budget: the Tel Aviv example
The average price is not the budget. For a non-resident, add 8% purchase tax, lawyer’s and agent’s fees, bank costs and, above all, a 50% down payment. On Tel Aviv’s average price, that gives:
| Price | 4,590,000 ₪ |
| Mas rechisha, non-resident (8%) | 367,200 ₪ |
| Lawyer (≈ 0.75% + 18% VAT) | ≈ 40,622 ₪ |
| Agent (2% + 18% VAT) | ≈ 108,324 ₪ |
| Mortgage broker, appraisal, bank fees, translations | ≈ ₪30,000 |
| Total cost | ≈ 5,136,146 ₪ |
| Mortgage, 50% | 2,295,000 ₪ |
| Cash required | ≈ 2,841,146 ₪ (≈ $789k) |
The same property bought by a resident as their only home costs 125,038 ₪ in tax instead of 367,200 ₪, and is financed at 75%. The cash gap between the two profiles exceeds ₪1.4M. The line-by-line detail is on the closing costs page, the matching monthly payment comes out of the mortgage calculator, and the lending conditions from abroad are on the mortgages for non-residents page.
Reading pitfalls
- Comparing a CBS average with an asking price. One is signed, the other is wished for; the 3 to 8% gap is not a market drop.
- Reading an Israeli square metre like a US or UK one. Gross area versus usable area: 15 to 20% apart, sometimes more when the balcony is counted in full.
- Confusing the city average with the neighbourhood you want. In Jerusalem, the square metre doubles between Kiryat HaYovel and Rehavia; the average describes neither.
- Taking a new build’s list price for the price paid. Parking, storage, the developer’s lawyer fee and indexation are added; discounts and gifts are taken off. Ask for the “keys in hand” price. The new-build or second-hand comparison details these items.
- Forgetting that the one-year trend is a composition average. A city that delivers a lot of expensive new builds sees its average rise without its older stock moving.
- Thinking in dollars or pounds at today’s rate. Between pre-approval and funding, the shekel can move 3 to 5%: budget in shekels.
What changes in 2027
Three parameters are already known. The purchase tax thresholds stay frozen until 15 January 2028: the resident’s 0% band stops at ₪1,978,745 in 2027 as in 2026, while prices rise, which pushes more buyers into the 3.5% band every year. The oleh schedule (0.5% up to ₪6,055,070) also runs until 15 January 2028: a buyer planning aliyah has an interest in signing before then. Finally, the market expects a slow decline in rates from the Bank of Israel, which supports prices rather than the reverse. Developers’ discounts should shrink as the new-build stock clears. For tax beyond the purchase itself (rental income, capital gains, tax residency), see Shekel Guide.
Method and update date
- Average prices: average price of dwellings sold, published by the CBS for the first quarter of 2026, rounded to the nearest ten thousand, by city where the series exists, otherwise left unpublished.
- Trend: change in the average price between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026 for the same city.
- Price per m²: ranges observed on declared transactions and listings, from the low end (older stock without a lift) to the high end (well-located new build), in gross area.
- Purchase tax: computed when the page is built with the calculator’s own function, brackets of 16 January 2025 frozen until 15 January 2028, “resident only home” and “additional home / non-resident” statuses.
- Updates: quarterly, at each CBS release; last updated 3 November 2026 on Q1 2026 figures. The pages of the cities section use the same figures.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average apartment price in Israel in 2026?
About ₪2.33 million (≈ $650,000), according to the average transaction price published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS, Lamas in Hebrew) for the first quarter of 2026. It is a national average across all sizes: a 4-room apartment in the center costs far more, a 3-room in the South or North far less.
What is the most expensive city in Israel?
Tel Aviv, with an average price of ₪4.59M in Q1 2026, up 10.3% year over year, and a square metre between ₪45,000 and ₪90,000 depending on the neighbourhood and the age of the building. Herzliya follows at ₪3.85M, then Jerusalem at ₪3.1M. Among the large cities, Beer Sheva is the cheapest at ₪1.24M.
Are property prices in Israel falling?
Not nationally: the average kept rising in 2025-2026, driven by Tel Aviv, the Sharon and Haifa. But several cities are down year over year, including Herzliya (−2.9%), Ashkelon (−3.2%) and Bat Yam (−2.5%), and new builds are selling with discounts and 20/80 payment schedules that did not exist in 2021-2022.
How do Israeli prices per square metre compare with US or UK prices?
The Israeli square metre is gross: it includes walls, the balcony and often a share of the common areas. Take off 15 to 20% to get a usable floor area. A listed 100 m² at ₪40,000/m² is therefore about 82 m² (880 sq ft) of living space, close to ₪49,000 per usable m², or about $1,260 per square foot at ₪3.6 to the dollar.
Does a foreign buyer pay the same price as an Israeli?
The price of the property is the same; what changes is everything added to it. A non-resident pays 8% purchase tax from the first shekel, against 0% up to ₪1,978,745 for a resident buying their only home, and must put down 50% instead of 25%. On Tel Aviv’s average price, the tax gap alone exceeds ₪240,000.
How often is this page updated?
At each quarterly CBS release, four times a year, usually six to eight weeks after the end of the quarter. The update date is shown at the top of the page; the current figures are those of the first quarter of 2026.
How we work
Every amount, bracket and rate on this page is checked against the official source listed at the bottom and dated. When a schedule or rate changes, the page is updated within days. Our methodology.
Sources
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