Apartment purchase cancellations surged by 41% since the beginning of the year
A review by the Ministry of Finance's Chief Economist indicates that apartment purchase cancellations have surged by 41%, rising from 1,294 in January to 1,821 as of August 2026.
A wave of apartment purchase cancellations is intensifying, according to a housing market review by the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance. An analysis conducted in January 2026, covering the 2023–2025 period, recorded 1,294 cancelled transactions. By August 2026, the number of purchase cancellations reached 1,821, marking a 41% surge.
The majority of these cancellations occurred in 2024, a year when contractor financing promotions dominated the market before the Bank of Israel's restrictions took effect. For comparison, in 2021—a peak year for Israeli real estate—the cancellation rate was approximately 0.5%, whereas in 2024 it reached 2.3%. Furthermore, as only 40% of those transactions involved delivered units, the Chief Economist’s office assesses that the volume of cancellations will continue to rise.
Geographically, the highest cancellation rates were in the Beersheba and Tiberias areas, followed closely by Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In June 2026, 8,757 apartments were sold—new and second-hand—a 50% increase compared to the same month last year. However, this figure is skewed by the "Am Klevia" operation, which effectively shut down the economy for 12 days in June 2025. Compared to June 2024, the growth in sales is a more moderate 7%.
The data does not signal a recovery in contractor sales, as the primary increase was recorded in second-hand and subsidized ("Apartment at a Discount") units. Contractor sales in the free market totaled 2,386 apartments this June—a 66% jump from June 2025, but an 18% decline compared to June 2024. Tel Aviv was the only region where contractors sold more units than in June 2024, driven by two specific projects accounting for 40% of the area's sales.
Since November 2024, the Ministry of Finance has tracked the prevalence of 20/80 financing promotions (20% down, 80% at delivery). Despite Bank of Israel restrictions introduced last April, these schemes remain common, particularly in the Central region (36% of June transactions) and Netanya (32%). The share of apartments sold "on paper" stood at 57%, down from 67% in March 2025, prior to the restrictions. Tel Aviv remains an outlier, with 84% of apartments sold "on paper" and an average delivery time of 5.5 years.
