In 2025, two flows reshaped Israel's real estate map. On one side, 21,900 Jews made their aliyah from 105 countries — they moved, enrolled their children in school, rented an apartment before buying. On the other side, 487 foreign buyers signed purchase agreements in Q1 2026 alone, often without leaving their country of origin. These two groups don't live in the same cities. They don't buy at the same prices. And they respond to radically different motivations. Understanding both is reading the Israeli market like no one does from the diaspora.
The 2025 aliyah map: Netanya dethrones Tel Aviv
For the first time, Netanya became the top city for absorbing new immigrants in Israelwith 1,688 arrivals in 2025 — surpassing Tel Aviv (1,667) and Haifa (1,201). This reversal is not insignificant: it reflects an economic reality that data confirms. Netanya still offers entry prices around 1 to 1.5 million NIS (~278,000 to 417,000 USD) for functional apartments, a seafront, and community infrastructure built over decades of immigration.
Of the 1,688 new arrivals in Netanya in 2025, 1,042 came from the former Soviet Union — 62% of the total. This figure illustrates historical anchoring: Haifa, Ashdod and Netanya remain the three natural hubs for the Russian-speaking diaspora, a community that has profoundly transformed these cities since the great waves of the 1990s. In 2025, Russia sent about 8,300 olim to Israel — a figure down 57% from the previous year's 19,500, but maintaining Russian speakers as the top immigration nationality.
Western diaspora accelerates: France +45%, United Kingdom +19%
The real signal of 2025 is the growth of Western communities. According to data published by the Ministry of Aliyah and the Jewish Agency, France recorded a 45% increase in its immigrantswith about 3,300 olim — compared to 1,109 in 2023. The United Kingdom progressed for the second consecutive year (+19%, 840 olim). The United States sent 4,150 olim, up 12% from 2024.
These figures reflect rising antisemitism in several Western countries, coupled with an acceleration effect linked to the war. The Jewish Agency handled over 126,000 calls in 2025 in four languages — English, French, Spanish and Russian — and 30,000 aliyah files were opened worldwide. One-third of new immigrants were aged 18 to 35.
These Western communities don't settle in the same cities as Russian speakers. English speakers — Americans and British — gravitate around Ra'anananicknamed the 'capital of Anglo aliyah,' for its network of international schools, quality of life and proximity to Tel Aviv. In Jerusalem, the neighborhoods of Rechavia, Baka and Talbiya concentrate Anglo-American families established for a long time. The French historically concentrate in Netanyabut Q1 2026 data indicates a shift: Bat Yam (12 purchases) and Tel Aviv (28 purchases) are increasingly attractive, sign of a community diversifying its horizons.
Buyers without suitcases: who buys remotely and where
The other side of the map is that of 487 foreign buyers in Q1 2026 — up 18% from Q1 2025 — who signed purchases without necessarily making aliyah. These buyers respond to another logic: pied-à-terre, investment, or 'just in case' apartment.
The geography of these purchases is radically different from that of aliyah. Americans invest in Jerusalem : 52.5% of their quarterly purchases — 125 apartments — are concentrated in the capital, with a median price of 5.1 million NIS (~1.42M USD) for the overall market, and 5.95 million NIS for new construction. These figures have nothing to do with aliyah prices. They reflect patrimonial purchases, often in historic neighborhoods or prestigious buildings.
Remote French buyers behave differently: their average purchase price is 2.8 million NIS (~778,000 USD), almost half that of Americans. They favor Netanya (35 transactions), Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (28 each). Same phenomenon with the British, whose purchases rose from 37 to 57 apartments in a year — a 54% increase corresponding to the aliyah dynamic.
Prices by city: what each community can actually buy
To anchor these movements in market reality, here's what CBS data from Q1 2026 indicates about average apartment prices in key cities:
Tel Aviv : 4.59M NIS (~1.28M USD) — market for remote buyers and affluent profiles
Jerusalem : 3.1M NIS (~861,000 USD) — up +4.2% annually, driven by diaspora demand
Haifa : 1.8M NIS (~500,000 USD) — +6.9% year-on-year, good dynamics, still affordable prices
Ashdod : 1.64M NIS (~456,000 USD) — consolidated market, strong Russian-speaking anchoring
Beer Sheva : 1.24M NIS (~344,000 USD) — entry-level market, developing with Ben-Gurion University campus
Netanya doesn't appear in the 18 cities of the CBS survey for this quarter, but its prices are historically between those of Haifa and Tel Aviv, with annual growth of +8.2% over the rolling year — making it one of the country's most dynamic markets.
The question every diaspora buyer asks
Do you buy in Israel to live there one day, or to have an anchor? The answer changes everything — the neighborhood, budget, city, type of property. An American buyer considering Jerusalem as a patrimonial pied-à-terre doesn't have the same constraints as a French family preparing aliyah in two years and seeking proximity to a French-speaking school in Netanya.
What the 2025-2026 figures clearly show is that the global Jewish diaspora is not homogeneous regarding Israeli real estate. It divides between those who come to settle — and who arbitrate on price, services, local community — and those who buy remotely, for whom symbolism and long-term value take precedence over practicality.
In both cases, the same prerequisite: understanding Israel's purchase mechanisms, its tax specificities, property law, and protections offered to foreign buyers. Our Ultimate Guide to Real Estate in Israel covers all these questions, from first contacts with a lawyer to Tabo registration.
Find all real estate listings in Israel — from Beer Sheva to Ra'anana, from Ashdod to Jerusalem — on Immobilier.co.il.
