The premium segment entered 2026 in a noticeably different position from the wider residential market, and the gap has widened through the first half of the year. What follows is a read from the transactions we have been involved in and the evidence we gather to support valuations — not a substitute for the published national figures, which lag and which flatten out exactly the distinctions that matter at this level.
Volumes are thin; pricing is not soft
The dominant feature of the last eighteen months has been low transaction volume rather than falling prices. Owners of prime stock have largely declined to accept discounts, and where a price could not be achieved they have withdrawn rather than reduced. The result is a market where comparable evidence is scarce and each individual sale carries disproportionate weight in setting the next valuation.
For sellers this means pricing carries more risk than usual: with fewer comparables, an optimistic asking price is harder to justify and easier to get wrong. For buyers it means the published averages are close to useless as a guide to what a specific street will cost.
Prime and near-prime have separated
The clearest trend of the year is the widening spread between genuinely prime property and property that is merely expensive. Assets with a fixed, non-replicable advantage — a protected sea view, a conservation-district address, a plot that cannot be subdivided — have held firm. Large but ordinary stock in the same postcodes has not.
Scarcity is holding value. Size, on its own, is not.
Where activity has been concentrated
- Herzliya Pituach: consistently the tightest market we operate in, with a meaningful share of transactions never reaching open marketing.
- Neve Tzedek and the Tel Aviv conservation districts: very low volume, firm pricing, and each sale setting its own comparable.
- Jerusalem: steady, with overseas purchasers a larger share of buyers than in any other market we cover.
- Caesarea: slower and more considered, with buyers trading Tel Aviv space for plot size.
- The coastal towns: the most active segment by volume, driven by rental demand and by relative value against the central coast.
Buyer composition
Overseas buyers have returned to the market in numbers through 2026, and are a materially larger share of premium transactions than they were two years ago. They are also, as a group, better prepared than in previous cycles: financing arranged in advance, Israeli counsel engaged early, and clear about purchase-tax banding before making an offer.
What we expect through the rest of the year
We would expect volumes to recover before pricing moves in either direction. Sellers who have been withdrawing rather than discounting will re-enter as evidence improves, and that additional supply should make the market easier to read for everyone. We do not expect a broad correction in the prime segment, principally because the owners who set its pricing are not under financing pressure.
If you would like the comparable evidence behind any of this for a specific street or building, we are happy to share it.
Filed under
- Market
- Analysis
- 2026
