The short version
Builders started fewer homes this year. They finished more. The pile of unfinished flats is the largest on record.
Tel Aviv now starts more homes than Jerusalem. Kfar Saba jumped from a tiny base. Beit Shemesh dropped hard.
M. Aviv is buying into 21 renewal compounds. Haifa froze permits in Ziv so a big rebuild can move. A Rishon owner keeps his permit but must fix a wall that went up too high.
Construction
The Central Bureau of Statistics published the count on Thursday, September 17. It covers July 2025 to June 2026, plus the April to June quarter of 2026.
Starts
Builders started about 76,040 homes. That is down 7.0 percent from 81,760 the year before.
About 5,730 old flats were knocked down to make room. Net new homes were about 70,320.
This is the first 12-month drop in starts in three years. The last drop was the year ending June 2023, when starts fell to 63,550 from 73,365.
Permits and finished homes
Local committees issued permits for about 83,340 homes, up 2.0 percent.
Builders finished 60,970 homes, up 7.9 percent.
More paper. More keys. Fewer new holes in the ground.
The spring quarter
April to June 2026 starts were 17,866.
- 10.3 percent below 19,911 in April to June 2025
- 9.3 percent below 19,701 in January to March 2026
January to March 2026 was already 11.2 percent under the same quarter of 2025. Two weak quarters in a row.
Quarter completions were 13,374, down 13.7 percent from a year earlier.
CBS also runs a seasonally adjusted series. On that series, starts rose 4.7 percent in the quarter. The raw count fell because spring is usually strong and this spring was not.
The last three quarters are provisional. They can change in December.
Where the building is happening
- Center district 25.3 percent of starts
- Tel Aviv district 22.9 percent
- South 18.4 percent
Tel Aviv-Jaffa started 7,611 homes, up 19.9 percent. It overtook Jerusalem, which had led the last two years.
City starts
| City | Homes started | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Tel Aviv-Jaffa | 7,611 | +19.9% |
| Jerusalem | 5,440 | -30.1% |
| Haifa | 3,085 | +93.3% |
| Kiryat Gat | 2,965 | +119.1% |
| Petah Tikva | 2,412 | -14.8% |
| Ramat Gan | 2,247 | -23.1% |
| Netanya | 2,224 | +63.2% |
| Bat Yam | 2,070 | +36.8% |
| Ashkelon | 2,042 | +164.5% |
| Lod | 1,996 | -31.1% |
| Herzliya | 1,898 | +173.5% |
| Yehud-Monosson | 1,674 | +264.7% |
| Ofakim | 1,656 | -44.6% |
| Ashdod | 1,434 | -54.0% |
| Kfar Saba | 983 | +538.3% |
| Beer Sheva | 849 | -33.1% |
| Beit Shemesh | 531 | -70.7% |
Read the big jumps with care
Kfar Saba went from 154 starts to 983. Even after that jump, it is still only 12.9 percent of Tel Aviv.
Herzliya went from 694 to 1,898.
Yehud-Monosson went from 459 to 1,674.
Both were driven by a few large renewal jobs.
Beit Shemesh fell from 1,813 to 531.
Ashdod fell from 3,120 to 1,434.
Ofakim fell from 2,990 to 1,656.
Big neighborhoods started last year and had no match this year.
Renewal and who the homes are for
About 17,670 homes started after an old building came down.
Of those, about 14,910, or 84.4 percent, were TAMA 38/2 or pinui binui.
Almost half of demolish-and-rebuild starts, 45.9 percent, were in Tel Aviv district.
Another 4,790 homes were added on top of standing buildings. 2,100 of those were TAMA 38/1.
Add both tracks and renewal made 22,460 starts. That is 29.5 percent of everything started this year.
Net of the 5,730 demolished flats, demolish-and-rebuild added about 11,940 homes the country did not have before.
Who they are for
Of all starts, 69.9 percent were for sale.
Of those for-sale homes, 13.3 percent, about 7,070, had a state subsidy. Most of those were discounted price programs.
The other 30.1 percent were not for sale.
- 48.4 percent were people building their own homes
- 24.6 percent were combination deals. Landowner gives land. Builder gives back finished flats
- 13.9 percent were built to rent
The unfinished pile
At the end of June 2026 there were about 217,240 homes under active construction. Highest ever.
That is up 7.7 percent from 201,717 a year earlier.
- Tel Aviv district holds 25.1 percent of them
- Center district holds 24.0 percent
217,240 unfinished homes against 60,970 finished in the last 12 months is 3.6 years of work at the current pace.
The average building took 31.8 months to finish.
Weighted by the number of flats, 37.3 months.
Last year those figures were 31.4 and 36.3 months.
A tower started this spring is not likely to hand over keys before the second half of 2029.
If you signed in a large Tel Aviv or Center project, ask for the current stage and the bank progress report. Do not rely on the marketing date.
If you are choosing new versus resale in Beit Shemesh, Ashdod or Ofakim, the next wave of new supply there will be thinner.
The next CBS release covers October 2025 to September 2026. It is due December 17, 2026.
M. Aviv buys into 21 renewal compounds
Mordechai Aviv Construction Industries (1973) is a Jerusalem builder listed in Tel Aviv.
On Thursday it told the stock exchange it signed a binding deal on September 16 to buy all of Tarchish Kidum Shivuk Yazamut Ltd.
Tarchish is Tamir Hefetz’s company. Through it he holds stakes in renewal project companies with Ken HaTor Engineering and Building.
The deal gives M. Aviv a half share, next to Ken HaTor, in 21 project companies. Those companies plan about 4,430 flats.
What M. Aviv pays
Base to Hefetz, about NIS 36.4 million
- About NIS 14 million at closing
- About NIS 9 million within six months
- The rest within 12 months, with interest at prime plus 1.5 percent
Up to NIS 20 million more if projects hit targets. Mostly owner majorities and zoning approvals, dated June 2028 to December 2030.
About NIS 25 million to Ken HaTor so Tarchish can buy rights in some of the 21 companies. After that, Tarchish and Ken HaTor each hold 50 percent of their joint stake.
A credit line of up to NIS 20 million for Ken HaTor’s share of the equity banks will demand.
All in, the deal can reach about NIS 81.4 million. It comes from M. Aviv’s own money.
Purchase tax on top is about NIS 4.9 million.
The 21 compounds
Jerusalem, Stern
921 planned flats. 654 for the partners to sell. Zoning approved. Building planned from the second quarter of 2029 to 2033.
Jerusalem, San Martin and Bar Yochai in Katamon
491 flats. 372 for sale. Mid 2028 to 2032.
Jerusalem, Tarshish
576 flats. 432 for sale. Still gathering signatures.
Jerusalem, Yehuda Shalom, Morgenthau and Nikanor
507 more flats. No majority yet.
Petah Tikva, Frankfurter
472 flats.
Yehud, two Weizmann compounds
320 and 151 flats.
Ramat Gan, HaAmal-Sokolov
100 flats.
Ramat Gan, Ben Gurion-Yeriho
222 flats.
Azor
107 flats.
Herzliya
Three compounds of 120, 108 and 83 flats.
Tel Aviv
Six small buildings of 22 to 80 flats. Three already have permits.
Total planned 4,430 flats
Partners’ sellable share 3,135
Tarchish’s own sellable share at closing about 1,100
Equity still to go in is NIS 183.7 million across all 21. Per project that runs from NIS 0.4 million to NIS 28.3 million.
M. Aviv says most projects already have the owner majority or an approved zoning plan. One should start building within a year.
Closing needs the Competition Commissioner and third-party consents. Window is 90 days, with another 90 if M. Aviv extends.
Hefetz set up Ken HaTor’s renewal arm about 15 years ago and ran it for 13 years. He stays two years after closing.
Tarchish is small on paper
End of 2024
- Assets NIS 19.4 million
- Liabilities NIS 18.9 million
- Revenue NIS 4.4 million
- Net profit NIS 759,000
M. Aviv is buying signed owners and plans, not a balance sheet.
NIS 81.4 million against about 1,100 Tarchish flats is about NIS 74,000 a flat.
The base payments of NIS 61.4 million are about NIS 55,800 a flat.
That math leaves out the NIS 183.7 million of equity still needed.
If you own in one of these compounds
The company on your contract does not change by itself. The money behind it does.
Ask three things.
- Which project company holds your building
- Whether the deal lets the developer add a partner without your consent
- What the milestone dates in your contract are. Hefetz’s extra pay is tied to majorities and approvals from 2028 to 2030. That is a clue to their timetable
Haifa freezes permits in Ziv
Haifa’s local planning committee took the first formal step on a pinui binui plan for Berl and Azar streets in Ziv, on the Carmel.
Magdilim reported a notice this week under sections 77 and 78 of the Planning and Building Law.
- Section 77 tells the public a plan is being prepared
- Section 78 limits new permits until that plan moves
No permits will be given under the old plans, including TAMA 38, except protected rooms.
The plan is expected to reach a deposit hearing after Sukkot.
The plan file
The file on the Planning Administration register is plan 304-1176767, Haifa, Berl and Azar.
- Covers 41.388 dunam
- Sits under the local committee
- Filed April 19, 2026 and passed the threshold check the same day
The register lists
- 1,125 homes
- 97,722 square meters of residential floor space
- 480 square meters of shops
- 1,493 square meters of public buildings
The aim is to set pinui binui rules for this compound.
What stands there now
Today the site holds 267 old flats marked for demolition.
- North, Simcha Golan Street
- South, Givat HaShavshevet
- East, Mendele Mocher Sfarim Street
- West, the Open School
New layout. Towers up to 22 floors. Lower buildings up to nine floors. Shop fronts on some ground floors. A public building. Underground parking. Open space that uses the hill views.
The developer is Bonei HaTichon. It began signing owners about six years ago.
The committee notice was not found on the register. The freeze itself rests on Magdilim. The size and unit count are from the register.
1,125 new homes for 267 old ones is 4.2 new homes for every one demolished.
1,125 homes on 41.4 dunam is about 27 homes per dunam. Dense for the Carmel. That is why the committee wants no stray TAMA 38 permits inside the line.
If you own there, the freeze is the moment the plan becomes real. A neighbor can no longer build under the old rules.
If you are thinking of buying there, the old flat is a ticket into a new one. The plan is not deposited yet, and it is not approved.
Rishon wall gets fixed, not torn down
Neighbors in Rishon LeZion won part of their appeal. They did not get the result they asked for.
The Central District appeals committee, chaired by Adv. Nili Ben Moshe-Yadgar, ruled on September 15 in appeal RL/1020/0526.
The local committee had approved a retaining wall taller than three meters on the boundary. It did so without the required step-back and without publishing a relief. A relief is a formal exception neighbors can object to.
The appeals committee accepted the appeal in part.
- It refused to cancel or freeze the permit
- It ordered the owner to change the permit under the committee engineer and redesign the wall
At 2.99 meters above the neighbors’ plot, the wall must step back 60 centimeters into the owner’s plot. The rest of the wall rises from there.
The site
Neve Zion Street. Plot 24 of block 3938.
In October 2023 the owner asked to demolish an old house and build a new one. Two floors, a basement, a roof room. Three units.
The file already had other reliefs.
- Height 10.27 meters instead of 9.5
- Elevator shaft 11.58 meters
- Southern setback 2.73 meters instead of 3
- Six percent more floor area
- Lot coverage 35 percent instead of 29
The wall was not on that list.
Neighbors to the east say they only saw the height when the concrete went up. They wrote on May 10, 2026.
By then the owner said the permit was about ten months old. The skeleton and basement were largely built. The wall stood 3.5 meters high.
The local committee admitted the error. Level differences were in the drawings. The wall height and the need to step it never came up in the review.
It proposed the step-back as an engineer change, with no new relief.
The owner said the appeal was too late and that similar unstepped walls exist nearby.
The neighbors said a defect this basic cannot be cured later, and that the new relief rules in force since 2023 do not allow it.
The committee used relative voidness. Not every breach kills the whole decision. You look at the defect and fit the fix.
The defect was the wall, not the root of the permit. A planning fix existed. So the permit stands and the wall gets redesigned.
If a permit next door worries you, pull the file while the work is still on paper. Object to reliefs when they are published. An appeal after someone moves in is much harder.
Court, Carmei Gat, Hasbun, tenders
Yavne’el
The Supreme Court refused a third-round appeal against an administrative demolition order.
Justice Alex Stein wrote in RCrimA 47104-09-26 that the applicant called the structure on her agricultural plot a home.
The Tiberias Magistrates Court and the Nazareth District Court had already looked at the inspector’s report and photographs. They found a greenhouse-type structure covered in sheeting, not a dwelling.
Those are findings of fact. A third court does not reopen them. The stay request was refused with the appeal.
Carmei Gat
Avisror Moshe and Sons, listed in Tel Aviv this summer, got a full building permit on September 17 for Carmei Gat North in Kiryat Gat.
- Plots 220 and 319
- 202 flats
- 101 at the state’s target price
- 101 free market
- Plus public buildings and shops
Avisror has sold 94 flats so far, all target price. It will now market the free market flats.
It has a bank accompaniment agreement.
Building began in April 2026.
Expected end, January 2030.
If you are one of the 94 buyers, the full permit is what lets the bank release funds against progress. Ask for the bank guarantee if you do not have it yet.
Hasbun, Jerusalem
The Hasbun plan approved by the district subcommittee on September 6 now faces a request for leave to appeal to the National Council.
The plan is three towers of 41 to 45 floors behind King George Street.
The request was filed September 17 by the Lev HaIr community council, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites, deputy mayor Yael Biton de Lange, and city councillors. Reported by Kol HaIr Jerusalem.
Tender dates that moved
Tender 529/2025, Yokneam Illit
997 target price homes in Mevo’ot Ma’araviyim. Close moved from October 5 to October 26, 2026.
Tender 75/2025, Gadot employment area in Yavne
Booklet posted September 17. Close moved from October 19 to November 16.
Tender 662/2026, Yehuda HaYamit 15, Tel Aviv
Booklet September 17. Closes November 2.
Tender 663/2026, Brenner 18, Tel Aviv
Booklet September 17. Closes November 2.
Tender 664/2026, market street in Nazareth’s old city
Closes November 9.
Several tenders that shared the October 5 close moved into late October and December. That fits the Sukkot calendar, not a policy change.
Check the Land Authority register before you pay for a booklet.
Where the numbers come from
CBS release 297/2026, September 17, and CBS Table 1 on dwellings by stage of construction. Same-day reports in Calcalist, Globes, Ynet and Merkaz HaNadlan.
M. Aviv TASE filing, September 17, plus Globes and Bizportal.
Planning Administration register, plan 304-1176767. Magdilim, September 17.
Appeals decision RL/1020/0526, September 15. Merkaz HaNadlan, September 17.
Supreme Court file RCrimA 47104-09-26, September 17.
Avisror TASE report, September 17.
Kol HaIr Jerusalem, September 17.
Israel Land Authority register for tenders 529/2025, 75/2025, 662/2026, 663/2026 and 664/2026.
Semerenko Group reads the primary documents behind each day’s headlines so buyers, renters and investors can act on the facts. If one of today’s stories touches a home you own or want, send the details and the file can be checked with you.
