10,970 new apartments were sold in the 2nd quarter of 2022 - decrease of 14.4% compared to Q1

In the second quarter of 2022, in the three months of April-June, approximately 10,970 new apartments were sold, a decrease of 14.4% compared to the previous quarter (January-March 2022), according to data published today (Sunday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics. These data moderate slightly after deducting the seasonal variables, so that the decrease in the sale of new apartments in this period stands at 11.6% compared to the previous quarter.

These data are a continuation of the trend observed during the previous quarter where the decrease in the volume of sales was already evident, and is mainly associated with the increase in the purchase tax on investors who made up a significant part of the market, as well as the increase in interest rates in the economy by the Bank of Israel and the tightening of mortgage conditions by the banks.
Examining the trend data shows that the decrease in the volume of apartment sales began in August 2021 at a rate of 3.3% per month, after an increase of 2.3% per month was observed from April 2020 to July 2021. The localities where more than 400 apartments were sold in the three months of April-June 2022 are: Netanya (624), Tel Aviv-Yafo (561), Ashkelon (489), Ramat Gan (473), and Jerusalem (464). These localities make up over a quarter of all sales, and were at the top of sales in the previous quarter as well, but in all of them (with the exception of Netanya where the volume of sales increased), there was a decrease in the rate of sales. The most prominent of all is the city of Ashkelon where the volume of sales decreased by 33%. In other cities further down the list, you can also see sharp increases in sales volumes (Or Yehuda 234%, Lod 515%) but these increases are the result of marketing in one-off projects that increased sales volumes for a limited period. Examining the volume of sales in June (seasonally adjusted data) compared to the previous month indicates a decrease of approximately 9% (3,807 apartments in May compared to 3,493 apartments in June).
The scope of the new apartments sold constitutes about 68.7% of the quantity requested for new apartments, which also consists of self-built apartments (build your own home) and purchase groups. When weighing all the apartments, it can be seen that in the three months April-June 2022 the requested amount of new apartments was about 15,970 apartments, a decrease of 10.2% compared to the first quarter of the year (January-March 2022), and after deducting seasonality, it is a decrease of 7.6 % compared to the previous three months. The decrease in sales weighted by all apartments is at a rate of 1.9% per month since October 2021.
 The number of new apartments not for sale whose construction began in the three months April-June 2022 is about 5,000 apartments, an increase of 0.5% compared to the previous three months. In June 2022, the number of apartments not for sale was about 1,560, a decrease of about 3.5% (seasonal adjustment) compared to the previous month.
In the division by districts, it can be seen that most of the new apartments were sold in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts (5,180 apartments) and in the Southern District about 2,246 additional apartments were sold during the quarter. In the other districts the amount of apartments sold is significantly lower: Jerusalem - 930, the North - 936, Haifa - 1,291, Judea and Samaria - 378. At the end of June 2022, the number of new apartments remaining for sale was 47,100 apartments and the number of months of supply (the number of months that will pass until all the apartments remaining for sale are sold) is 13.1 months.