Ninety nine apartments changed hands in Bavli over the past year, at an average of about NIS 62,300 per sqm. Behind that average sit two entirely separate markets: walkup blocks from the 1950s and 1960s on one side, and new towers with underground parking and a lobby on the other. Sometimes only a few dozen meters separate them, and the price gap runs into millions of NIS.
Two markets in one neighborhood
The median price per sqm for resale apartments has fallen to about NIS 52,500, against roughly NIS 57,000 the year before. That is a decline of about 7.5%. New apartments, by contrast, are closing in a range of NIS 53,000 to 59,000 per sqm.
The gap per sqm looks modest, somewhere between 10% and 20%, but in absolute money it is far wider, because the new apartments are also larger. A new four room apartment sold over the past year for an average of about NIS 6.37 million, while four rooms in an older building close at around NIS 3.8 to 4.1 million.
The transactions that tell the story
In July, a four room apartment of 123 sqm on the eighth floor of a project due for delivery in 2028 sold on Nisim Street for NIS 7.28 million. That is about NIS 59,200 per sqm. In the same month, on HaZohar Street, a five room apartment of 131 sqm in a building completed in 2025 closed at NIS 7 million, about NIS 53,400 per sqm.
On the older side the picture is different. On HaMishna Street a 2.5 room apartment of 54 sqm in a building from 1970 sold for NIS 2.5 million, about NIS 46,300 per sqm. On Derech Namir a 3.5 room apartment of 65 sqm in a building from 1960 closed at NIS 3.41 million.
Sellers are already conceding openly
About 88 apartments are currently offered for sale in the neighborhood. An asking price is always an opening position for negotiation and closings come in below it, but this time the direction is visible without waiting for Tax Authority figures: a three room apartment on Yerushalmi Street came down from NIS 4.6 million to NIS 4.35 million, and a five room apartment on Pa’amonei Yosef Street was cut from NIS 6.5 million to NIS 5.8 million. Even after the reduction these are asking prices, before a buyer has been found.
What matters before a deal in Bavli
For buyers: the central decision is between an older building and a new project, and not only because of price. A 1960s building without a reinforced safe room, and at times without an elevator, is an entirely different product, with a possible urban renewal timetable that changes the whole financial picture.
For sellers: rental yield in the neighborhood stands at only about 1.9%, so buyers here are mainly people who intend to live in the apartment. That means presentation, maintenance condition and the ability to explain the state of the building feed directly into the price.
We work with sellers and buyers in Bavli and the neighboring areas, and know the differences from street to street and from building to building.
Courtesy of Bizportal · read the original article
This review is part of Market Reviews and Real Estate Opportunities by RS Nadlan.
