Madlan Neighbourhood Investment Rankings, 2020-2023

Between 2020 and 2023 Madlan (מדלן), one of Israel’s big property portals, published a run of neighbourhood rankings: a study of the biggest price rises from 2010 to 2020, an investor list built on 2020 data, a Neighbourhood Investment Index in February 2021 that put Ramat Eshkol in Lod first, a ranking of 2021 price rises led by Ramat Shaul in Haifa (+23.5% per square metre), lists of the most-searched neighbourhoods, and the neighbourhoods with the most second-hand sales in each city in 2022. They are dated snapshots from one property portal, not a current buy list. Each list measured something different, prices have moved since, and Madlan itself wrote that its investor list was no guarantee and not investment advice. Use them to see where investors were looking and why, then check today’s recorded sales, plans and transport before you shortlist anything.

How to read these figures

Every number on this page is Madlan’s own, as it published it at the time. We have not matched the figures against the Israel Tax Authority’s recorded deals, so read them as one portal’s historical data. Three cautions apply throughout:

• The bases differ. One study averages 3-room flats, another 2-3 room flats, and the demand lists give an average price per square metre without saying whether it comes from asking prices or completed sales. A gap between two figures for the same neighbourhood is often a change of basis or period, not a market move. Our guide to asking price, bank appraisal and sold price explains why those numbers rarely match.
• Yields are Madlan’s averages. Madlan does not explain how it calculated its “average rental yield” or whether any costs were deducted, so treat it as a rough gross figure. What you keep after vacancy, repairs, management, building fees and tax is lower; see why Israeli rental yields are low.
• Plans and transport dates were expectations. Several have already changed. Where an official source gives the current position, we say so; everything else is marked as Madlan’s description at the time.

What each Madlan ranking measured

The Neighbourhood Investment Index, February 2021

Madlan’s index combined four things investors care about: rental yield in the latest quarter, capital return (the change in value) over the previous three years, how long rental and sale listings stayed on the market, and urban renewal plans nearby. Madlan said it screened thousands of neighbourhoods across Israel but did not publish how it weighted the four. The articles we found cover only two neighbourhoods; Madlan said the full index would follow on its blog, and we did not find it.

Ramat Eshkol, Lod. Madlan was blunt about the risk. It described Ramat Eshkol as one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Israel: 1970s public housing, improvised construction, decades of low public investment and a crime reputation, to the point that residents called it a “ghetto”. The upside it saw was an urban renewal plan, which it described as approved, to replace most existing buildings while preserving historic sites such as St George’s church, Khan al-Hilu and Beit HaKshatot, with new parks and public buildings, plus bus lanes, a Brown Line rapid bus route to Ramla, Be’er Ya’akov and Rishon LeZion, and a new rail station north of Lod. Its bottom line: positive potential, but dependent on those transport improvements. We have not confirmed the plan’s current stage or the housing numbers Madlan quoted, so check the plan on Mavat before relying on it.

Oshiyot, Rehovot. A neighbourhood in south Rehovot built in the 1950s for families moved out of a ma’abara (transit camp), with many new immigrants and crowded housing. Madlan pointed to a pinui-binui (פינוי בינוי, evacuate and rebuild) plan in preparation whose details were not yet known, a planned rapid bus route along the Herzl axis through Ness Ziona and Rishon LeZion to Tel Aviv, and a metro station in the more distant future. It added that the neighbourhood’s stigma was local, not national, so it weighed less on demand.

Madlan said it built the index for the many investors who had come back to the market after the purchase tax on additional homes was reduced. That was early-2021 context and does not describe today’s rules. Under the Israel Tax Authority notice of 12 October 2026, purchase tax on an additional dwelling is 8% on the portion up to ILS 6,055,070 and 10% above it, a temporary schedule now extended through 2027-02-10. Our all-in cost of buying in Israel shows how that tax fits with the other costs.

The ten neighbourhoods that gained most, 2010 to 2020

In September 2020 Madlan listed ten neighbourhoods where investors had made the most money over the decade, comparing the average price of a 3-room flat in 2010 and 2020.

Yield and growth did not move together. Kiryat HaYovel had the lowest yield on the list (2.8%) and still rose 70%. Kiryat Yam A-C had the highest yield (4.1%) and rose 99%. Netanya city centre rose least (63%) on a middling 3.3% yield. In this sample, a high yield neither required nor guaranteed strong price growth; that is an observation about ten neighbourhoods over one decade, not a forecast.

Madlan’s deputy CEO, Tal Kopel, credited two forces. TAMA 38 (תמ”א 38), the national plan for strengthening older buildings, was criticised for not reaching the periphery but did bring investors outside Gush Dan while renewing old neighbourhoods; and transport (the Metronit in Haifa, light rail, Israel Railways and new bike paths) drove new demand. He added that social problems and a poor reputation still made several of these areas better for investors than for families. TAMA 38 has since ended, with dates that differ by planning area; see what changed with TAMA 38.

What Madlan said about individual areas in 2020:

• Kfar Shalem, Tel Aviv: new-build and TAMA 38 projects were being advanced, and the Tel Aviv master plan, TA/5000, designates the area for urban renewal with pinui-binui. The shacks in the north-east, a remnant of the village of Salame, remained because compensation had been disputed for decades. Madlan expected the Purple light-rail line around 2027; NTA, the government company building it, now targets commercial opening in 2028.
• Bat Yam: Madlan said Bat Yam had the sharpest price rises of all Gush Dan cities over the decade, helped by its location and a wave of renewal projects in its old centre. It expected the Red light-rail line in 2022; according to NTA, the Red Line began running in August 2023.
• Old Kiryat Motzkin: long seen as one of the best neighbourhoods in the Krayot, with a central location between Road 4 and the train station, relatively moderate prices and the area’s best schools. Land reserves were nearly used up, so new building almost stopped until TAMA 38 projects began.
• Kiryat Yam A-C: mostly old housing blocks, but many within walking distance of the beach, which drew renewal and new-build projects. The old neighbourhoods themselves were still run-down, while the Metronit improved access to jobs in Haifa.
• Rambam, Rishon LeZion: plenty of TAMA 38 activity, yet prices still moderate compared with the rest of central Rishon, which made it, in Madlan’s words, a preferred investor target.
• Neighbourhood D, Be’er Sheva: students near Ben-Gurion University kept it in demand, but land values were too low for developers to profit from renewal or new building, and new students simply replaced graduates who left the city for lack of attractive jobs. So it stayed old and investor-driven rather than adapting for families.
• Kiryat HaYovel, Jerusalem: the municipality had designated large parts for pinui-binui with relatively tall buildings, linked to future light-rail lines around the neighbourhood; students came for the Givat Ram campus and moderate rents, and there was a contest over the area’s character between its secular majority and arriving Haredi residents.
• Ramat Rabin, Karmiel: the city’s most sought-after neighbourhood and its leader in monthly deals, helped by Karmiel’s rail link towards Haifa’s employment areas.

Madlan’s investor list on 2020 data

Titled “10 neighbourhoods investors should know”, the article actually profiles eleven. It opens with its own caveat: there is no assurance any investment will succeed, and the list is not investment advice.

The liquidity columns matter as much as the yield. Tene had a high yield but only 18 sales a year, so an exit could take time; Neighbourhood D had 403 sales a year, the deepest market on the list. Madlan’s bottom lines, in short:

• Kiryat Ata centre: attractive for its high yield, central location and TAMA 38 potential.
• Tene, Karmiel: Karmiel’s first-ever TAMA 38 approval came at the end of 2020, and Nesi’ei Yisrael Boulevard was planned as a main shopping street.
• HaMeyasdim, Karmiel: no renewal plan, but Haredi families moving in could raise demand, and the change had caused friction.
• Neve Paz, Haifa: no renewal projects, which limits upside, but high yields and the Technion nearby.
• Kiryat Yam Gimel: next to the sea, which draws renewal developers, with a rail station planned nearby.
• Neve Alonim, Ashkelon: no major plans; state incentives for pinui-binui developers in five cities, Ashkelon among them, were then only under consideration.
• Hadar HaCarmel: rising on its own, without depending on major public investment.
• Neighbourhood Vav, Be’er Sheva: high demand because it is relatively close to the university, but Madlan warned that planned new student dormitories near the campus could cut interest, while renewal along Rager Boulevard might push students towards cheaper blocks nearby. We have not confirmed whether those dormitories were built.
• HaTikva, Tel Aviv: most of the land is held in musha’a (מושע), undivided joint ownership by many owners, which makes deals hard to close and blocks renewal, keeping prices relatively low. Madlan thought releasing the musha’a together with the Purple Line could lift prices; the municipality was promoting solutions, and we have not confirmed whether they were adopted.
• Rova Bet, Ashdod: a fair yield, with the real potential in urban renewal and a large plan nearby that we have not checked on Mavat.
• Neighbourhood D, Be’er Sheva: the part that interests investors is the west, next to Ben-Gurion University, and because the neighbourhood is large Madlan stressed buying within a short walk of campus.

Where prices rose most in 2021

In January 2022 Madlan ranked neighbourhoods by the rise in average price per square metre from 2020 to 2021, counting only neighbourhoods with more than 30 deals.

For the top five Madlan also gave the prices behind the percentages: Ramat Shaul went from ILS 16,600 to 20,500 per square metre, Ir Yamim from 21,800 to 26,200, Talmei Menashe HaTzeira from 17,800 to 20,700, Ramat Eliyahu from 24,700 to 28,300 and Old Katamon from 31,600 to 36,200.

Madlan’s CEO, Tal Kopel, read 2021 as unusual: even core demand areas, where rises are normally single-digit, saw double digits, because buyers who expected further rises pushed demand above supply. Some of the jumps came from investors cashing out in relatively new neighbourhoods such as Ir Yamim and Karmei Gat. And with TAMA 38 seen as exhausted, attention moved to pinui-binui, which is why neighbourhoods slated for that kind of renewal (Ramat Shaul, Ramat Eliyahu, Old Katamon) made the list. Talmei Menashe’s rise reflected Be’er Ya’akov maturing as neighbourhoods were completed.

What buyers searched for: 5782, early 2023 and 2023

Three lists measured interest on Madlan’s website rather than returns. They show where people were looking, which is not the same as where prices or rents performed. The prices are Madlan’s averages per square metre for each neighbourhood at the time; Madlan does not say whether they are asking prices or recorded sales.

Kopel’s reading of early 2023: Tel Aviv still led interest despite a frozen local market, perhaps because buyers were waiting for a big price drop, while the interest in Neighbourhood D and Hadar suggested investors were still in the market even if they were sitting on the fence. The same neighbourhoods carry different prices in the two tables (Hadar ILS 12,700 in 5782 and 15,500 in early 2023; Lev Tel Aviv 67,000 and 68,500; Pisgat Ze’ev 23,000 and 25,200) because the periods differ. Do not merge them into one current figure.

For calendar 2023, Madlan’s ten most-searched neighbourhoods were: 1 Lev Tel Aviv (up from second in 2022), 2 Hadar HaCarmel, 3 to 5 the northern, central and southern parts of Tel Aviv’s Old North, 6 Herzliya city centre (up two places), 7 Ahuza, 8 Merkaz HaCarmel, 9 Neve Sha’anan (new to the top ten) and 10 HaMerkaz HaShaket in Petah Tikva, up eight places, the biggest jump. Madlan noted that apart from Tel Aviv and Ahuza these were mostly middle-class neighbourhoods or areas in heavy renewal, and that Haifa had four neighbourhoods in the top ten.

Madlan’s notes on some of these neighbourhoods, written in 2022 and 2023:

• Old North, New North and Lev Tel Aviv: municipal plans allow only modest extra floors, with tighter limits in the UNESCO-listed White City, though several tall towers were planned along Rothschild Boulevard. Both areas have or will have light-rail access.
• Florentin, Tel Aviv: Madlan wrote that the Red Line would serve it from the end of 2022; NTA says the line began running in August 2023. Madlan also described a planned metro station on Salame Road, a pedestrian Florentin Street, a wider Elifelet Street and more towers along Jaffa Road, with a newer, taller western section drawing older, wealthier residents, investors and foreign residents.
• Bat Yam south-west: Balfour Street splits it. The western part near the sea is pricier and more sought after; the eastern part is cheaper, has more renewal and walking access to the Red Line from almost every street. Madlan suggested the appreciation potential might actually lie in the west, where renewal had not yet started.
• HaMerkaz HaShaket, Petah Tikva: within walking distance of a city centre in heavy renewal, with many TAMA 38 projects adding supply; old walk-ups, buildings of up to 7 floors with lifts, old houses and long “train” blocks; increasingly an investor focus.
• Neve Sha’anan, Ahuza and Merkaz HaCarmel, Haifa: Neve Sha’anan is flat and walkable, near the Technion, with rental demand Madlan called very high and a new Metronit line planned. Ahuza is an established Carmel neighbourhood of steep, winding streets with renewal expected along Moriah Boulevard and a new neighbourhood, Mordot Lincoln, planned to its north and west. Merkaz HaCarmel has the Carmelit station and cultural venues, with low-rise building expected to stay low.
• Pisgat Ze’ev and Gilo, Jerusalem: Pisgat Ze’ev already has the light rail, with new building in the east near Moshe Dayan Boulevard, a large nature park planned along Nahal Zimri and a park-and-ride by the light-rail station. Gilo, a middle-class neighbourhood of five sub-neighbourhoods, was waiting for the Green and Blue light-rail lines and had pinui-binui projects in planning. Check current light-rail timetables before relying on either.
• Rambam, Rishon LeZion: planned rapid bus lines (the Brown line across Rishon towards Be’er Ya’akov, Ramla and Lod, and the Blue line from Rehovot and Ness Ziona towards Holon) and a metro line to central Tel Aviv in about a decade, all as planned at the time.
• Herzliya city centre: mostly 3-4 storey walk-ups, a parking shortage and congestion expected to worsen, a future metro line to central Tel Aviv, and a pinui-binui plan that was at an early stage and might never go ahead.
• Ramat Aviv Gimel, Tel Aviv: built from the 1970s with high-rises added in the 1990s; no longer the most glamorous address, but still sought after for its green spaces, spacious buildings and family-friendly institutions.

The neighbourhoods with the most second-hand sales in 2022

For 2022 Madlan named, city by city, the neighbourhood with the most second-hand sales, using its “Luach Nadlan” data. The article does not say whether the counts come from listings on Madlan or from recorded deals, or exactly which months they cover, so read them as Madlan-reported counts for 2022.

Kopel’s summary: the leaders differ in character, but most share strong improvement potential, mainly from expected or ongoing urban renewal, even where they are not classic investor areas. Notes from the same article:

• Kfar Shalem, Tel Aviv: founded in 1948 on the site of the Palestinian village of Salame and settled by Jewish refugees and new immigrants, mainly from Yemen. Its sub-neighbourhoods are Nir Aviv, Neve Kfir, Neve Eliezer and Neve Barbur. Provisional beginnings left winding, unregulated streets and much illegal construction in parts, so check the legal status of any building there. Today it mixes housing blocks, shacks and new towers, and most residents own their homes.
• Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimel: a large Haredi neighbourhood linking east and west Beit Shemesh, in two parts, Gimel 1 (“Kiryat Avi Ezri”) and Gimel 2 (“Kiryat Chazon Ovadia”), with most building complete and some vacant lots.
• Kiryat Sharet, Holon: the city’s largest neighbourhood, mostly built in the 1970s, with little renewal planned inside it beyond spot projects, but large housing plans to the north (the Rabbi Akiva compound) and south (Park HaHolot), and the Green light-rail line passing through. NTA now targets the line’s southern section, from Rishon LeZion through Holon to Tel Aviv, for 2028 and the full line for 2030.
• Ramat Karmim, Ashkelon: built from 2010, mostly in mid- and high-rise buildings with few public gardens, next to the planned Park HaYayin neighbourhood, which was still on paper.
• Rova Gimel, Ashdod: built in the 1960s mainly for a Haredi population, mostly pre-1980 housing blocks with strong TAMA 38 and pinui-binui potential, and several projects being advanced.

Neighbourhood D, Be’er Sheva, across four Madlan studies

Neighbourhood D appears in more Madlan lists than any other area, and the figures look contradictory until you line up the periods.

Read together: a big run-up in the early 2000s, a near-doubling of 3-room prices over 2010 to 2020, then a much flatter stretch. Madlan’s 2020 explanation: low land values made renewal unprofitable for developers, and student demand churned rather than grew. In 2022 and 2023 it described municipal plans to remake Rager Boulevard into an urban boulevard, a park in the old quarry and a new residential and commercial complex at the old Merkaz Oren, with a light rail on Rager Boulevard envisaged but its scope and timing unknown. If Be’er Sheva is on your list, compare these dated figures with recorded sales for the exact streets near the university.

Risks the rankings flagged

• Land too cheap to renew. Low land values can stop developers from taking on TAMA 38 or pinui-binui at all (Neighbourhood D).
• Musha’a ownership. Undivided joint ownership makes sales slow and renewal hard (HaTikva).
• Illegal construction. Parts of some older neighbourhoods have unregulated building (Kfar Shalem); a lawyer should check the permit and registration of the exact unit.
• Crime and reputation. Madlan named it openly for Ramat Eshkol and Neighbourhood D, and noted low personal security in Hadar.
• Student supply. New dormitories near a campus can cut demand for nearby flats (Neighbourhood Vav).
• Plans that slip or never happen. Transport dates in these articles have already moved (the Red Line opened later than Madlan expected, and NTA’s Purple Line target is now 2028), and Madlan itself said the Herzliya centre plan might never go ahead.

How to check any of these neighbourhoods today

Sources

1. Madlan blog, “The neighbourhoods that made investors the most money in the last decade”, September 2020 (Mako report of 16 September 2020).
2. Madlan blog, “Investing in real estate? These are the 10 neighbourhoods you should know”, 2020 data.
3. Madlan blog, “Madlan’s Neighbourhood Investment Index”, February 2021, and the Oshiyot article in the same index.
4. Madlan blog, “In which neighbourhoods did prices rise most in 2021?”, 3 January 2022.
5. Madlan blog, “The stars of the year” (most-searched neighbourhoods, 5782).
6. Madlan blog, “The best neighbourhoods in Israel to live and invest, 2022”.
7. Madlan blog, “The most sought-after neighbourhoods”, first quarter of 2023.
8. Madlan blog, “The most-searched neighbourhoods of 2023”.
9. Madlan blog, “Where did values rise most over the last five years?”, undated.
10. Israel Tax Authority, notice of 12 October 2026 on the purchase tax schedule (gov.il).
11. NTA, Purple Line and NTA, Red Line, checked 29 October 2026.
12. nadlan.gov.il, government real estate site (recorded deals) and Mavat, Planning Administration plan records.

Found a neighbourhood on one of these lists that fits your budget? Send Semerenko Group your buyer brief with your budget, the cities and neighbourhoods you are considering and whether you want rental income or long-term growth, and we will pull the recent recorded sales and rents for those streets and tell you what is actually for sale there now.