CBS: Sales of New Homes Fall Sharply

Sales of new homes fell 19.2 percent between May 2017 and April 2018, compared to sales during the 12 previous months, the Central Bureau of Statistics said. A total of 21,956 homes were sold during the period. With that, sales ticked up significantly – by 10 percent – in April, over the previous month. 1,731 homes were sold in April, compared to 1,568 in March, the figures showed.

Demand for homes, on the other hand, was rising. An analysis of the number of homes available for immediate sale, and the rate of construction of new homes that have not been marketed, showed that there was an 0.7 percent increase in demand in the period between January and March 2018, compared to the previous three months.

Of the sales of homes between May 2017 and April 2018, 28 percent were in the center of the country, 17 percent in the north, 17 percent in the Tel Aviv district, 15 percent in the south, 12 percent in the Haifa district, and 8 percent in Yerushalayim. In Lod, sales fell by 58 percent during the period compared to the 12 previous months, while Holon saw a fall of 50 percent and Beit Shemesh by 32 percent. In Rishon LeTzion, on the other hand, sales were up 96 percent during the period, the CBS figures showed.