The Ministry of Finance report for April 2025 reveals a dramatic decline in all areas of the housing market. The bubble is beginning to burst – and the numbers make clear the intensity of the approaching crisis.
A professional and focused analysis of the residential real estate industry review – April 2025 , as it appeared in the report of the Chief Economist's Department at the Ministry of Finance:
️ Key Trends: Free Real Estate Market in a Crash
- Collapse in free market transactions :
- Only 5,433 transactions in the free market – a 20% decrease compared to April 2024.
- Contractor sales in the free market fell to 1,543 apartments – a sharp decline of 43% year-on-year (!).
- The rate of new apartments sold "on paper" fell to 64% - a monthly decrease of 3 percentage points and an indication of growing panic among buyers.
- Effect of Bank of Israel restrictions :
- The decrease is coordinated with the entry into force of the Bank of Israel restrictions at the end of March 2025 (limiting the rate of deferred payment and “balloon” loans).
- In areas such as Netanya, Be'er Sheva, and Tel Aviv, there was a sharp drop in the frequency of transactions with financing benefits – a decrease of up to 30 percentage points (!).
- A puzzling gap between the decline in sales and cash flow :
- Despite the collapse in sales, contractors' cash flow stood at 6.3 billion NIS , 37% higher than April last year (!).
- The findings suggest early payments by buyers or manipulations that smell like an attempt at a positive "accounting presentation" just before the quarterly reports.
