The state quietly cancelled a 664 home land tender in Jerusalem on July 29, five days before bids were due. By our count in the official registry, that makes five live residential tenders cancelled in July, worth 5,303 planned homes. Builder Abisror is going public at a NIS 2.2 billion value, about 15% below what it wanted in May. Azrieli’s Tzemach Hammerman bought 75% of a project that will turn 206 old Tirat Carmel flats into about 1,100 new homes. Danya signed a NIS 666 million contract to build 635 homes for Gindi in Netanya, about NIS 1.05 million of building cost per home. The Housing Ministry is rethinking who qualifies for state mortgage help, including a 0% down payment idea. And renovation firms can now bring in up to 2,000 skilled foreign workers under a fast track procedure.
The state cancelled a 664 home Jerusalem tender days before bids were due
Tender 395/2021 offered land for 664 homes in Givat Massua North, on the green slopes of southwest Jerusalem. It was a target price tender, meaning the state caps the sale price of most of the homes. The tender reopened on June 16 and bids were due August 3. On July 29 at 15:13, the Israel Land Authority registry switched it to cancelled. No reason is given, and as of this morning no news outlet has reported it.
These slopes have history. The city fought construction there, and a 2024 tender on these slopes drew zero bidders after Mayor Moshe Leon warned builders they would waste their money (Kol HaIr, February 2024).
The bigger picture is our own count, made in the Land Authority’s public registry on July 31 and confirmed on each tender’s own record. Five live residential tenders were cancelled during July: 1,800 homes in Rishon LeZion on July 6, then 1,040 and 1,001 homes in Ofakim on July 8, then 798 in Akko on July 13, and now 664 in Jerusalem. That is 5,303 planned homes pulled off the market in one month, equal to about a fifth of the 26,125 homes in live tenders that are due to close in August. Jerusalem alone has lost 1,703 tender homes to cancellation this year.
Why it matters: state land tenders are where cheaper new supply starts. Every cancelled tender pushes those future homes, and their price competition, further away. Watch whether the Authority reissues the Jerusalem land or shelves it.
Abisror goes public at NIS 2.2 billion, and the small print matters
Abisror, the Be’er Sheva building family firm, is listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It plans to raise about NIS 600 million at a company value of about NIS 2.2 billion, and to pay a dividend of about NIS 200 million soon after, most of it to the family (TheMarker, July 30; Bizportal, July 30).
The prospectus, the legal disclosure document for the offering, holds one striking detail. In the company’s flagship Sde Dov project in Tel Aviv, 13 of the 125 flats sold so far were bought by the controlling shareholders themselves (Globes, July 30).
Our own comparison: in late May the company aimed for a NIS 2.6 billion value (Globes, May 29). At NIS 2.2 billion it has trimmed its own asking price by about 15% in two months. Why it matters: when a builder prices its own shares, you see what insiders think the housing pipeline is really worth right now. The haircut says caution.
Azrieli’s first renewal move: 206 old flats become 1,100 homes in Tirat Carmel
Tzemach Hammerman made its first acquisition since the Azrieli Group took 67% control of it in September 2025. It bought 75% of the Weizmann Jabotinsky pinui binui compound in central Tirat Carmel from Nofei Romema (Merkaz HaNadlan, July 30; Bizportal, July 30). Pinui binui means evacuate and rebuild: owners hand over old flats, the developer demolishes, and each owner gets a new flat in the towers that replace them.
The plan takes 11 old buildings with 206 flats and replaces them with 7 towers of 30 floors, about 1,100 homes, plus 4,600 square meters of shops and offices. That is 5.3 new homes for every old one, by our arithmetic. A neighboring 550 home compound is still in early planning. The city’s wider renewal push is a beat we have covered before, in our Tirat Carmel renewal report.
Why it matters: Azrieli money behind a mid size renewal market is a strong signal. For buyers priced out of Haifa, Tirat Carmel’s pipeline just became more likely to actually get built.
Danya will build 635 Gindi homes in Netanya for NIS 666 million
Builder Danya signed an execution contract, a build only deal with no land component, with developer Gindi Holdings. It covers 635 homes in 8 towers of 17 to 20 floors, with 4 underground garages, in Netanya’s Kiryat HaSharon quarter. The price is about NIS 666 million plus VAT and indexation. Work starts within 12 months and move in is expected in about 4 years (Merkaz HaNadlan, July 31; ice, July 30).
Divide the contract by the homes and you get our third figure: about NIS 1.05 million of pure building cost per flat, before VAT and before any land cost. That gap between build cost and sale price is where land, financing, and profit live. Why it matters: a developer signing a contract this size now is betting real money that Netanya demand holds through 2030, even in a slow market.
The state is rethinking who gets mortgage help, including a 0% down payment idea
This one is from July 28 and 29. It landed between our sweep windows and the site has never covered it, so we bring it with its dates shown. The Housing Ministry, with the Treasury’s budget department and the Accountant General, set up a team to rewrite the eligibility rules for state mortgage assistance under the Housing Loans Law of 1992. The public can send in positions now (Housing Ministry notice; Merkaz HaNadlan, July 29).
One idea on the table: count a family’s steady rent payments as proof they can repay, and let them buy with 0% equity, meaning no down payment. The example given: a family paying NIS 5,000 rent each month could qualify for financing of up to about NIS 1 million (ice, July 28).
Why it matters: today state help requires an eligibility certificate and a points score, and a down payment is the wall most young renters cannot climb. Nothing has changed yet. This is a comments stage, but it is the first official crack in the down payment wall.
Renovation firms get a fast track for 2,000 foreign workers
Also from July 29, also never covered here. The Population and Immigration Authority published a temporary procedure letting renovation contractors bring in up to 2,000 skilled foreign workers (Globes, July 29; Magdilim, July 30). The quota comes out of the 5,000 construction slots approved in July 2024. Recruiting runs through licensed private agencies rather than state to state agreements, first come first served, from countries ranked Tier 1 or 2 in the US anti trafficking report, such as Moldova, Romania, India, Thailand, and the Philippines. The procedure runs until February 1, 2027.
Why it matters: the renovation trade says it has been in collapse since Palestinian workers were barred. If crews actually arrive, waiting times and quotes for renovation work should ease first, before anything shows up in new build pace.
Kiryat Motzkin: 52 old flats picked their developer for up to 280 new homes
Owners at Sprintzak 1 to 11 in Kiryat Motzkin chose Gefen Megurim in a tenant tender, the vote where residents pick who rebuilds their compound (Bizportal, July 30; Magdilim, July 30). The early scheme replaces 52 flats with 260 to 280 new homes. Owners are promised 12 extra square meters, a mamad (a reinforced safe room), and a 12 square meter balcony. There is no approved plan yet, so treat the numbers as a starting point. Why it matters: renewal keeps spreading through the Krayot, and these owner terms are a useful benchmark for anyone negotiating a deal nearby.
For the site’s editors: three updates, no new pages
These stories belong to pages the site already owns. Update the line, do not write a new post.
- Arnona 2027 post (arnona-2027-is-set-to-jump-some-bills-by-33): add that the 121 exceptional requests total about NIS 900 million, roughly 70% of it on businesses, with an Interior Ministry decision due by mid October (Calcalist, July 30). Note: Calcalist lists Ashdod at +7.5% and Ramat Gan near 10%, higher than the 4.45% and 6.95% now in the post. Recheck against the ministry list before editing.
- Rehovot Eastern Quarter post (rehovots-skyline-transformed-the-eastern-quarter-project-clears-final-hurdles-for-8100-new-homes): add that the quarter’s first building permit was issued on July 30, 90 homes by the Zeytoni company, with site works due within months (Magdilim, July 30). Magdilim now sizes the quarter at 8,400 homes, slightly above the 8,100 in the post.
- Kiryat Eliezer post (haifas-skyline-transformation-kiryat-eliezer-set-for-massive-urban-renewal): add that Compound 11 received final validation in late July: 160 old flats in 7 buildings become 4 towers of 20 to 32 floors with 667 homes, 98.5% of owners signed, developer Almogim (Magdilim, July 30; Colbo News, July 29).
Checked today and not published
The mamad levy ruling, the Kiryat Bialik rejection, the Grand Canyon Haifa plan, the data centre loan, and Amidar’s results are all in yesterday’s brief already. The Davidka Square approval and the TMA 35 periphery reform circulated as fresh but date to early July. Shikun and Binui’s NIS 4.45 billion energy sale (July 29) is a finance story, not a property one. Three Ramat Gan compounds reach a validation hearing on Monday, but outlet unit counts disagree, so that waits for the actual decision. A “CBS survey on collapsing buyer intent” going around is a Facebook protest post recycling July 27 data, not a new survey.
Sources
Primary: Israel Land Authority tender registry, Housing Ministry notice. Press: TheMarker, Globes (Abisror), Globes (workers), Calcalist, Merkaz HaNadlan (Tirat Carmel), Merkaz HaNadlan (Danya), Bizportal (Abisror), Bizportal (Gefen), ice (Danya), ice (mortgage help), Magdilim, Kol HaIr, Colbo News.
