The Israeli diaspora is buying real estate in the homeland. What is happening in the market — and why a tour of New York synagogues gathers hundreds of buyers.

The interest of diaspora Jews in buying property in Israel has been growing for the fifth consecutive year — and the events of last week in New York provided yet another documentary confirmation. On May 5 and 11, two stops of the "Great Israeli Real Estate Event" tour, organized by My Home in Israel, took place at the Park East synagogue in Manhattan and at the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn. According to one of the representatives of the participating agencies, each event gathered over 150 people, despite protests from pro-Palestinian organizations that required a police cordon.

Tour organizer Gideon Katz cited this figure earlier in the year: if five years ago the company held two or three events a year, then in 2025 there were 18, and in 2026 at least 15–20 are expected. The route covers Toronto, several cities in New York State, and ends in London. The expo works as an offline marketplace: 50 representatives of Israeli developers fly in for each event, consultations are held in English, and deals are closed on the spot.

Who buys what is a question that data provides a concrete answer to. According to the company, over 90% of diaspora transactions are new apartments in ongoing construction projects. Interest is concentrated in several geographic clusters: Jerusalem (especially areas with a strong English-speaking community — Ramot Eshkol, Arnona), Beit Shemesh, Modi'in, Netanya, Ra'anana, and Herzliya. The purchasing pattern is often non-linear: parents of a schoolchild buy an apartment in a project with a three-year construction cycle, planning to move after the child finishes school. Thus, real estate serves both as an asset and as a relocation planning tool.

At the same time, market data is coming in that helps understand the price context. According to Sands of Wealth, the dynamics of housing prices in Israel in the first half of 2026 are close to zero on an annual basis — the market has stabilized after several years of growth, and the Bank of Israel cut its key interest rate to 4% in January 2026 for the first time in 18 months. An average apartment in Tel Aviv today costs between 6 and 15 million shekels depending on the area and size. In Modi'in and Beit Shemesh — areas with strong demand from the diaspora — entry into the market is possible from 2–3 million shekels for a two- or three-bedroom apartment in a new building.

A friction point that is rarely discussed openly: a foreign buyer without an Israeli bank account faces a multi-level international transfer procedure. Transactions are tracked by Israeli tax authorities, and the buyer must declare the source of funds. Without a local lawyer and tax consultant, this stage becomes the main source of delays — not the signing of the contract, but the movement of money.

Real estate in Israel — Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, coast: discount-house.com/israel