CBS: Sharp Decline in Households Planning to Purchase an Apartment
A CBS survey indicates a sharp decline in the share of households planning to purchase an apartment – from 8% to 3.6%. According to the director of the housing indices department at the bureau, the data reflects a slowdown in the market.
"The share of households planning to purchase an apartment has dropped from 8% to 3.6%; the real estate market is in a slowdown." This was stated by Dr. Doron Saieg, director of the housing indices department at the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Saieg, who spoke as part of a panel discussing housing market trends and industry forecasts at the "Era of Regulation" conference held by the Mortgage Consultants Association, added that the CBS tracks only apartment prices, not the financing promotions offered by real estate developers.
During the panel, Saieg presented a survey conducted by the CBS, which examines public intentions to purchase an apartment to estimate expected demand in the near future.
"If in the past about 8% of households planned to purchase an apartment, in 2025 the figure dropped to 3.6%. This figure correlates with the decline we are seeing today in the market," said Saieg.
The decline is reflected both in the low number of transactions currently being carried out and in the price decreases recorded in apartment price indices. Last year, approximately 90,000 transactions were completed—a decrease of about 10% compared to 2024, while new apartment sales saw a decrease of about 12%.
Data from the CBS for this year shows that the decline is continuing, with a 6.7% decrease in the number of transactions during the first five months of the year compared to the first five months of 2025. The number of new apartments purchased in the first five months of the year was 1.7% lower than that recorded in the same period of 2025.
In addition, Saieg noted that the apartment price index has been in decline for several months, which he says also points to a market slowdown.
Addressing criticism regarding contractors' financing promotions and their impact on the apartment price index, he stated:
"We do not measure the effective price. The apartment price index is a macroeconomic index, and it does not go down to such resolutions. It is important to separate the real estate market from financing costs, which are part of the credit market."
This is an interesting statement, as for a certain period, the CBS attempted to examine the impact of financial promotions (such as 20%-80%) on apartment price indices, but claimed they did not find a significant impact.
