Israel real estate news, 19 to 28 September 2026: what changed

From 19 to 28 September, the news that changes a decision is specific. Two subsidized plots changed hands well above the price paid to the state. In Jerusalem, a builder had already sold 76 flats when the full permit was still being prepared for signature. A couple who called a finished Ramat Hasharon flat a shell lost the lower purchase-tax rate.

Photo: high-rise apartments off Kiach Street, near Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem, 19 September 2025. Daniel Rosehill, CC BY 4.0.

Prices and deals

• Shoval Engineering agreed on 17 September to buy a Rekhasim plot with room for 124 homes for about NIS 27 million plus VAT. About NIS 8 million of that is for the land rights. The seller paid the state NIS 2,662,262 for those same rights on 3 December 2025. Half the homes must be sold at the state’s target price, a discount track for eligible buyers, and the Housing Ministry still has to approve the transfer. (Shoval filing, 18 September; Israel Land Authority tender 394/2025)
• Effie Capital is selling a Raanana West plot for 221 homes, 177 of them target-price, for NIS 193.5 million plus VAT. The state’s 2025 land bid on that compound was NIS 156,865,871. Effie expects only about NIS 4 million of pre-tax gain for its 75 percent share, and the sale still needs Land Authority consent. If you are waiting on a discounted flat there, ask who holds the rights before you sign. (Effie Capital filing, 24 September; Shmuel Baruch filing, 24 September; Globes, 24 September)
• Hi Lift bought 75 percent of crane firm Skyline for NIS 255 million. The deal closed on 17 September. Skyline’s 2025 net profit was about NIS 21.5 million, down about 41 percent from about NIS 36.4 million, while revenue barely moved. A crane firm’s profit is one read on how busy building sites are. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September; Bizportal, 22 September)
• Shemen Real Estate signed to buy an Or Akiva industrial building for NIS 58 million plus VAT. One tenant pays about NIS 3.75 million a year in rent, and roof solar adds about NIS 0.1 million. On those filing figures, the gross yield is about 6.6 percent. The lease can run to 2066, with an option for 49 more years. (Shemen filing, 24 September; Merkaz HaNadlan, 24 September)
• Electra Construction is asking for about NIS 270 million more on the Bereshit tower in Bavli, Tel Aviv, a sum about equal to the 2019 contract. The developer, Migdalei Bereshit Daniel, has counterclaimed NIS 900 million to NIS 1 billion. The 174 flats are already being handed over, and the arbitration is not decided. Photograph the flat at handover. (Globes, 22 September; Bizportal, 22 September)

Building and supply

• The Southern District committee gave final approval on 22 September to Eilat’s first pinui binui plan at HaTmarim, the track where old buildings come down and a larger project replaces them. 208 homes come out. 474 go in, on about 21.5 dunam, including towers of 25 and 27 floors. A plan with final approval can now go for a building permit. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September)
• Ramla’s local committee agreed to grant a building permit, still subject to conditions, for the first stage of the TEO project: two 25-floor towers with 268 homes. The full plan is 530 homes. The company says it has sold 34 homes at an average of about NIS 2.35 million including VAT, two of them registrations rather than full contracts. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September)
• The Israel Land Authority moved the deadline for two north Tel Aviv tenders, together 598 homes, to 26 October, and it cancelled a 207-home tender in Rahat. One of the Tel Aviv tenders is 246/2025, the Ha’Arad compound. The cancelled Rahat tender is 204/2023. (Israel Land Authority tender 246/2025; Israel Land Authority tender 204/2023)
• Masad Oz and America Israel signed a full merger, still subject to regulatory approvals. The companies say America Israel has handed over more than 7,000 homes and is promoting about 2,500 more with partners. If you hold a contract on an America Israel project, ask who will manage the build. (Globes, 23 September)
• The Housing Ministry and JDC-Israel opened subsidized one-on-one advice for building contractors who want to try new building methods. No budget figure was published. (Maariv, 23 September)

Mortgages and rates

• Mimun Yashir signed on 17 September to buy 85 percent of Sigma City, a lender that tops up small and mid-size developers after a bank loan, for about NIS 34 million, and to put in about NIS 29 million more to repay owner loans. Sigma’s loan book stood at about NIS 153 million at the end of June, at a weighted rate of 12.6 percent, down from 13.5 percent at the end of 2025. That 12.6 percent is what a small builder pays on this slice of money, not a home-mortgage rate. (Globes, 22 September; Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September)
• Buyers of a Hadera house for NIS 4,950,000 asked a French bank for a loan only after the contract date. The bank then refused to finance a home in Israel. The court held that both sides broke the contract: the buyers paid late, and the sellers kept the keys for 320 days after the price was paid. The net result was NIS 136,220 to the buyers, plus NIS 18,000 in costs. A clause that excuses a bank delay did not cover a late application. (Hadera Magistrate’s Court, 24 August 2026, via psakdin; ynet, 24 September)

Government and tax

• A couple who bought a flat at 24 HaBroshim Street in Ramat Hasharon lost their claim to pay 6 percent purchase tax, the rate for a shell that is not yet a home. Globes puts the price at about NIS 9.4 million and Bizportal at NIS 9.45 million. The appeals committee said the flat had an occupancy permit, toilets, and a kitchen, so it is taxed as a home, at 8 percent and then 10 percent. The couple also owe NIS 40,000 in costs. Do not budget a second home on the 6 percent shell rate. (Globes, 24 September; Bizportal, 23 September)
• From 23 September, a kibbutz or moshav cooperative must get a vote of its members before it signs a real estate deal, other than renting out a home. The draft contract has to go out with the meeting notice. If you are buying from a kibbutz or moshav, ask for that vote, with its date, before you pay. (Gov.il, Registrar of Cooperative Societies, 23 September)
• Kibbutz Kvutzat Shiller still owes betterment levy, the tax on a rise in land value after a new plan, of NIS 1,552,350 on one plot and NIS 1,528,500 on another. The appeals committee said the transfer of homes to members is not finished, so the kibbutz, not the Land Authority, owes the levy for now. It also owes NIS 10,000 in costs. (Appeals committee decision, 22 September; Merkaz HaNadlan, 23 September)
• Kiryat Ata must return NIS 1,027,505.34 that it held back from a NIS 4 million compensation payment, plus linkage, interest, NIS 22,360.96 in court costs, and NIS 60,000 in legal fees. The city treated an old, unpaid betterment levy as a set-off. The court said the levy was not yet due, because no building permit was ever issued. Read a compensation breakdown before you bank it. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September; Bizportal, 22 September)
• Tel Aviv lost its attempt to charge 42 Neve Avivim owners NIS 1,534,694 in betterment levy on a TAMA 38 rebuild, the track that lets owners replace a weak building with a stronger, larger one. The appeals committee said the permit stayed inside the levy-free basket. The city pays NIS 10,000 in costs. If you get a levy bill on a TAMA 38 project, ask whether it charges for space the law exempts. (Tel Aviv appeals committee, 16 September; Merkaz HaNadlan, 24 September)
• On 22 September the Land Law Enforcement Authority started a sweep against balconies and additions built without a permit. A normal temporary sukkah is not the target. The authority says fines can reach hundreds of thousands of shekels, and both the owner and the contractor can be held responsible. Ask, before you rely on a new balcony, whether it has a permit and an engineer’s approval. (Gov.il, 22 September)
• The Nazareth District Court raised the fine for a 1,050 square metre commercial building in Zarzir, built with no permit and after a stop order, from NIS 50,000 to NIS 150,000. The court said an unfinished shell is not a reason for a lower fine. If a seller calls a structure “just a shell,” ask for the permit and any stop order. (Bizportal, 18 September)
• The Be’er Sheva District Court ordered Monitin to pay the Israel Land Authority NIS 100,000 in costs. The company sold cars on a plot the state had leased for industry and craft. A zoning plan that allows shops did not widen what the lease allows. On state land, the lease purpose and the zoning file are two documents, and the narrower one wins. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September)
• Combat reservists who fell behind on a self-built home can have the 2026 Land Authority extension fee waived. The example given is a saving of about NIS 25,000, for someone who served at least 60 days in the combat reserve in 2026. Someone who already paid can ask for a refund. The published refund date, written as 31.6.2027, is not a real calendar day, so wait for the Authority to correct it before you rely on a deadline. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 24 September; Bizportal, 24 September; ice, 24 September)

City by city

• Jerusalem: as of Avisror’s 27 September stock-exchange filing, the full building permit for Ganei HaBira, 198 homes, was being produced for signature. Work started in September 2024. 76 of the 150 open-market flats are already sold. The company now points to completion in December 2029. Ask for the permit number once it is issued, and check that your Sale Law guarantee, the promise to return your money if the flat is not delivered, is in hand. (Avisror filing, 27 September)
• Jerusalem: the Hebrew University has agreed to sell its Stern dormitory site in Kiryat HaYovel to Yakir Bniya and DC Shikun. The buyer says the site has an approved plan for about 200 homes and that building can start now. The price was not disclosed, and that 200-home figure is the buyer’s, not a number we matched to a filed plan. (Kol Ha’ir, 27 September)
• Jerusalem, Beit HaKerem: a pinui binui plan at HaTomer Street 8 to 10 would replace about 70 flats with 222 homes, 44 of them small, in towers of 28 and 30 floors. The district committee approved it for validity. The planning register still listed plan 101-0994301 as in the approval process on 15 September, so it is not in force until the approval is published. (Planning Administration, plan 101-0994301; Merkaz HaNadlan, 23 September)
• Jerusalem, Kiryat Menachem: plan 101-1284074 would replace 74 flats at Iceland 19 to 21 and Colombia 16 with 289 homes. The planning register listed it as in the approval process on 15 September. Approval is not a building permit. (Planning Administration, plan 101-1284074)
• Jerusalem, Rassco: plan 101-0502948 would replace 42 flats on Dov Kimchi and Tchernichovsky with 136 homes, including 27 small units. The same register listed this plan, too, as in the approval process on 15 September. (Planning Administration, plan 101-0502948)
• Ramat Hasharon: on 24 September Azorim began demolishing 108 flats at 4 to 10 Yitzhak Elhanan Street, in Kiryat Yearim, to build 220. Sales have opened from NIS 3.7 million. That figure is the developer’s starting asking price, not a price someone has paid. Ask which floor and which building it refers to. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 27 September; Bizportal, 27 September)
• Herzliya: the old Arena mall is being split into seven separate buildings, about 31,000 square metres, at a cost of about NIS 200 million. The demolition permit is issued and work is due to start in October. A Tidhar subsidiary bought rights to 8 percent of the mall and car park for NIS 56.2 million. Expect years of building noise if you rent nearby. (Merkaz HaNadlan, 22 September; Bizportal, 22 September)
• Acre area: Globes reported on 18 September that the Northern District Committee voted to pause a decision on the Jadeidi-Makr master plan, 11,800 dunam, and to hold another hearing. The already approved Tantur Hills district, 9,485 apartments plus 300 special housing units, was not part of that vote. (Globes, 18 September; Planning Administration, Tantur Hills)
• Haifa: Bizportal reported that the Land Registration Supervisor ordered a family on HaYarok Street to pay for strengthening works of about NIS 308,921, plus NIS 44,211 in costs, after a dig of up to 1.5 metres under a preserved building with no permit. The neighbours who sued must also remove a wall they built on shared ground within 30 days. Walk the basement of an old shared building before you buy. (Bizportal, 19 September)
• Ashdod: Bizportal reported that the Family Court refused to undo a mother’s gift of half her flat to her daughter. Once a gift of land is registered in the Tabu, the Land Registry, a later change of heart is not enough. The mother was ordered to pay NIS 35,000 in costs. Anything you want to keep, such as the right to live there, has to be written and registered first. (Bizportal, 19 September)
• Ashdod: a couple who did not stop a leak into a neighbour’s flat, even after an order, must pay NIS 30,000 in legal costs. They had deposited NIS 20,000 with the court and pointed to an insurance claim. The judge said an insurance claim does not free an owner from the duty to repair. (Globes, 27 September)
• Ashdod: a man who shared his partner’s flat for about 21 years was awarded half of it, even though her will left the whole flat to her son and it was registered in the son’s name. The Family Court ruled on 30 July 2026. The son pays NIS 40,000 in costs. If you are buying from an heir, ask whether the late owner had a partner. (Ashdod Family Court, 30 July 2026; Merkaz HaNadlan, 23 September)
• Herzliya: the Tel Aviv District Court left in place a ruling that a woman owns half of a flat her in-laws promised and never signed over. Globes reported the appeal’s dismissal on 27 September, with NIS 50,000 in costs. The judges treated it as a rare case. Do not count on a spoken promise. Ask for a signed gift deed. (Globes, 27 September)
• Tiberias: a rabbinical court set a divorcing couple’s flat at NIS 1,383,000. One appraiser had said NIS 1,500,000 and another NIS 1,150,000. The court gave more weight to the fuller report instead of splitting the difference. (Tiberias rabbinical court, 25 August 2026; Merkaz HaNadlan, 24 September)
• Kiryat Gat: the Israel Land Authority said a ritual bath about 2,000 years old, weighing about 25 tons, was lifted out of the Carmei Gat building site. The Authority paid about NIS 28 million for the rescue digs in the neighbourhood. The bath is in storage until it can return to a public space there. (Gov.il, Israel Land Authority, 23 September)
• City halls: in the Central Bureau of Statistics 2025 social survey, 66 percent of adults said their local authority works well, up from 59 percent in 2015. Among large cities, Petah Tikva was at 85 percent, up from 61 percent. Jerusalem was at 68 percent, up from 39 percent. Ashdod was lowest at 51 percent. Beer Sheva was at 72 percent. The survey spoke to 6,452 people. (Central Bureau of Statistics, release 300/2026; Globes, 23 September)

Before you reserve a new flat, check the permit file. Here is what to look for in a building permit before you buy.