"Not a million and a half that fell from the sky": How much did the winners of the 'Mechir Lemishtaken' program really earn?

The Glil Yam neighborhood in Herzliya, one of the most prominent symbols of the 'Mechir Lemishtaken' (Price for a Resident) program in high-demand areas, has presented an unusual picture in recent years.

A check by the Yad2 website for 'Maariv' found that between January and July 2023, 170 apartments were offered for sale in the neighborhood, while in the corresponding period in 2026, the supply already stood at 539 apartments, more than three times as many. At the same time, the median asking price for a 4-room apartment dropped from 4.65 million shekels to 4.09 million shekels, a decrease of about 12%.

In contrast, the rental market saw almost the opposite. The number of apartments offered for rent in January-July dropped from 341 in 2023 to 231 this year, a decrease of about a third. During the same period, the median rent for a 4-room apartment climbed from 9,200 shekels to 11,000 shekels per month, an increase of almost 20%. In the last year alone, an increase of nearly 12% was recorded.

However, according to Nir Feina, a resident of the neighborhood and a broker specializing exclusively in Glil Yam, a significant change in the composition of apartments coming onto the market is hidden behind the drop in sale prices. "There are at least three different categories of apartments in Glil Yam," he explains to 'Maariv'. "There are basic 'Mechir Lemishtaken' apartments, free-market apartments, and there are special apartments, for example, those sitting on the first line to the park. These are different products, and the market prices them differently."

According to him, the turning point came in 2024. A large part of the neighborhood was marketed under 'Mechir Lemishtaken', and the first winners entered the lotteries as early as 2017 — and they could only be sold after 7 years according to the lottery rules.

"Until July 2024, the apartments sold were mainly free-market apartments," says Feina. "And then suddenly a new category of product entered that wasn't there before. As soon as the 'Mechir Lemishtaken' apartments started to be released, both the supply increased significantly and apartments of a more basic standard entered the market."

Therefore, according to him, a simple comparison between the median price of 2023 and that of 2026 can be misleading. "It's like comparing an economy class plane ticket to business class just because they are both on the same flight," he says.

As an example, he presents two 4-room apartments currently offered in the neighborhood: one for about 3.69 million shekels and the second for 4.69 million shekels. "The first is 93 square meters, with one air direction, no storage room, and in a basic standard. The second is slightly larger, first line to the park, with two parking spaces, a storage room, an upgraded kitchen, and carpentry. That's a million shekel difference, but it's also a different product."

The gaps, he says, are also evident in larger apartments. Feina says he sold regular 5-room apartments for around 36,000 shekels per square meter, and in contrast, an invested 5-room apartment with a view of the park for 6.6 million shekels — about 45,000 shekels per square meter.

"'Mechir Lemishtaken' did exactly what it was supposed to do"

Feina also asks to put the numbers into perspective regarding the 'Mechir Lemishtaken' winners in Glil Yam. "Whoever bought under 'Mechir Lemishtaken' made a great deal, but whoever bought on the free market also made a great deal," he says.

According to him, part of the feeling that this is an extraordinary win stems from comparing the purchase price in 2017 to the price of the apartment today, after years in which real estate prices in the entire area have risen. "Everyone who bought real estate in Glil Yam in those years greatly increased their capital. In 'Mechir Lemishtaken', they earned a few hundred thousand more shekels thanks to the discount, and that is exactly what the program was supposed to do."

As an example, he tells of a couple of friends who purchased a 5-room apartment in 2017 under 'Mechir Lemishtaken' for about 2.5 million shekels. After receiving the apartment in 2020, they invested, according to him, about 400,000 additional shekels in renovations. In the same period, a 5-room apartment was sold in a free-market project for about 3.5 million shekels, but it was marketed three years later, with a higher specification and with the option to choose the floor, air directions, and location.

"In the end, the gap was a few hundred thousand shekels," he says. "That was the benefit. Not a million and a half shekels that fell from the sky." Another point he clarifies is that even within the 'Mechir Lemishtaken' program, Glil Yam was at the expensive end of the scale from the start. "It was the most expensive 'Mechir Lemishtaken' in the country at that time," he says.

Apartments under the program, according to him, were sold for around 18-19 thousand shekels per square meter. That is, the winners did receive a significant discount relative to market prices in the area, but they also paid very high amounts from the start. This was not an apartment sold at the price of a project in the periphery and then jumped to the value of Herzliya, but an expensive purchase in a high-demand area, to which the program's benefit was added.

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"The next jump is still ahead of us"

From here, Feina is already looking ahead. According to him, Glil Yam has not yet finished its development process, and some of the most significant changes are actually outside the residential buildings.

He points to two new interchanges planned in the area that are supposed to improve the connection to north Tel Aviv, Ramat Hahayal, and the beach, alongside the continued development of employment, commerce, and service areas near the neighborhood.

"Even today, it sits in an excellent geographical location, next to the Coastal Road, the HaSira interchange, and the train station," he says. "But the new connections and employment centers being built around it can further change the accessibility and attractiveness of the neighborhood."

Developers operating in the neighborhood are also counting on the continuation of this process. Roni Tannenbaum, VP of Marketing and Strategy at Gindi Holdings, which is promoting the LOVE project in Glil Yam, including 505 housing units in 13 buildings, sees the continued development of the area as a central part of the demand story.

"The connection between the proximity to Tel Aviv, the beach, the employment areas of Herzliya, the train station, and the central transportation axes, along with parks, educational institutions, public areas, and commerce, has created a neighborhood that offers a combination that is hard to find in the central region," she says.

"We believe that this is exactly the reason why, even in a period when the housing market is behaving more prudently and cautiously, Glil Yam continues to be one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in the central region.

"Although it is possible to see a larger supply of apartments today compared to previous years, as part of the trends in the market, the demand for the neighborhood has remained stable thanks to its unique advantages — people don't just buy an apartment, they buy a neighborhood, a community, an education system, accessibility, and green spaces."

For Feina, talking about community is not just a slogan. He himself is a resident of Glil Yam, and according to him, he didn't plan to become a broker at all — and certainly not one who focuses on only one neighborhood. "I'm just in love with Glil Yam," he says. "At first, I brought my brother, my mother-in-law, and my friends here, and then everyone told me: be a broker."

Today, after saying he was involved in more than 300 deals in the neighborhood, he summarizes the idea with a smile simply: "I want to choose my neighbors."