According to the housing price index published today (Wednesday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics, apartment prices fell sharply by a full percentage between the months of April-May compared to March-April.
The figure reflects the sharpest monthly decline in the last eight years.
The downward trend continues on an annual basis. Comparing transactions carried out in April-May 2026 to those carried out in the same period last year shows that the housing price index fell by 2.01%.
The CBS notes that this is one of the periods of annual decline recorded in the last decade, following declines recorded in 2018 and the second half of 2023.
By district, the sharpest decline was recorded in the Tel Aviv District, where prices fell by 2.3%, followed by Jerusalem with a decrease of 1.8%. In the Haifa District, prices fell by 0.5%, in the Northern District by 0.3%, while in the Central and Southern Districts there was no change.
In an annual comparison, decreases were recorded in the Central District (-3.2%), Haifa (-2.6%), Tel Aviv (-2.5%) and South District (-0.5%), while increases were recorded in the Northern District (1.4%) and the Jerusalem District (0.3%).
The new apartment market also recorded a decline, although more moderate. The new apartment price index fell by 0.1% compared to the previous period. However, the proportion of transactions carried out within the framework of government subsidy programs increased from 34.6% to 37.5%, and excluding these transactions, there was actually an increase of 0.2% in new apartment prices.
The data also shows that compared to April-May 2025, the new apartment price index decreased by 3.9%. In addition, the CBS notes that in the last five years, new apartment prices have increased by 29.9%, compared to a cumulative increase of 31.2% in overall apartment prices.
At the same time, the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics remained unchanged in June 2026 compared to the previous May.
Annual inflation is 1.61% - the lowest level in the past five years, within the Bank of Israel's inflation target range (11%-31%). Most analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated that the index fell by 0.11%.
Notable price decreases were recorded in the following categories:
Fresh vegetables and fruits, which fell by 5.2%.
Clothing and footwear, which fell by 2.71%3T.
Transportation which fell by 0.7%.
Furniture and home equipment that fell by 0.5%.
Notable price increases were recorded in the following categories:
Culture and Entertainment which rose by 1.0%.
Housing increased by 0.7%.
Health increased by 0.6%.
Food increased by 0.4%.
The rent for tenants who renewed their contract increased by 2.6%, and for new tenants (apartments in the sample where there was a tenant turnover) increased by 6.6%.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed the decrease in annual inflation to 1.61%, saying that this is proof that the government's economic policy "proves itself" even during the war.
Smotrich called on the Governor of the Bank of Israel to implement a "significant interest rate cut," adding that "the writing is already screaming from the wall - it's time to lower interest rates.".
