There is something especially magical in listening to the sounds of the waves and in watching the sunset straight from the living room. The desire to live close to the sea is universal: for thousands of years the sea has been a place of entertainment, a center of trade, and a subject of longing. However, if living next to the sea is a dream, realizing this dream, in reality, can be difficult – as you get closer to the beach the prices of lands rise steadily, due to the high demand and short supply of land.
In this guide we will show you the advantages of living close to the beach, and try to understand the real value of the sea – do sea side properties really cost more than identical properties that do not enjoy the beach’s status symbol?
How Much Will It Cost You to Live Next to The Beach in Israel?
In order to answer this question, we compared the prices of properties with similar characteristics in the same cities, with the only difference between them being their vicinity to the beach. The data shown is taken from the “Madlen” site.
The Cost of Living Near the Tel Aviv Beach
Our investigation starts in Tel Aviv, with its golden beaches that stand as a tourist attraction for tourists from all over the world. Firstly, we compared four-room apartments. The price of a brand new 95 square meter four-room apartment in the heart of Tel aviv stands at 5,650,000 NIS. In comparison, for an 85 square meter four-room apartment on Bugrashov street next to the beach you will have to part with no less than seven million NIS. It is clear to see that a young family interested in purchasing a sea side apartment in the center of Tel Aviv will have to add an additional 1,350,000 NIS to enjoy being next to the Mediterranean beach.
Even those who were able to acquire the initial amount of money for purchasing an apartment will have to part with a significant sum for the privilege of living next to the beach. For example, a new, 46 square meter two-room apartment straight from the contractor in the Florentin neighborhood will cost you 2,950,000 NIS. In comparison, for a similar two-room apartment on Shmerling street close to the beach will cost you 3,340,000 NIS – a 390,000 NIS difference.
The Cost of Living Near the Netanya Beach
In recent years, we have been seeing an unprecedented building boom all around Netanya, and in particular in the sea side neighborhoods. Huge buildings are showing up one after the other, aimed to make the dream of many Israelis’ dreams to live close to the beach come true. The new neighborhoods being built next to the beach have gained a reputation of luxury neighborhoods, and it seems this reputation is completely justified. Whereas for a 67 square meter two-room apartment in the city center, you will have to pay 1,290,000 NIS, a similar two-room apartment in one of the recently built luxury complexes is being sold for 2,050,000 NIS – a difference that stands at 760 thousand NIS, or 58%.
The gap is felt in larger apartments as well. While a five-room 140 square meter duplex in the Park neighborhood is being sold for 2,600,000 NIS, a sea side 116 square meter five-room apartment will cost no less than 3,050,000 NIS – a gap of 450,000 NIS or 17%, and that’s despite the significant difference in the size of the apartments.
The Cost of Living Near the Ashdod Beach
It seems like living next to the beach causes significant differences in housing prices in the south as well. While a renovated 90 square meter three-room apartment in the B quarter is being sold at 1,450,000 NIS, for a similar apartment with a view to the Mediterranean beach you will pay 1,950,000 NIS – a gap of half a million NIS, that make up more than 34%. Moreover, the data shows that the average price per square meter in the B quarter is 14,500 NIS. In comparison, the average price per square meter in the 11th quarter in the city, that is located near the beach, stands at more than eighteen thousand NIS – a gap of 3,500 NIS per square meter.
The Cost of Living Near the Hadera Beach
The effect the distance to the beach on housing prices is felt even outside of Tel Aviv. For example, a renovated four-room 90 square meter apartment on Hanasie Wizemann street costs 1,580,000 NIS. However, a similarly sized four-room apartment with a view to the beach can cost more than 3,450,000 NIS – more than double.
The price gaps are felt in smaller apartments as well. Whereas for a brand new 66 square meter two-room apartment in the center of Hadera you will have to pay only 700,000 NIS, a similar apartment overlooking the beach can cost no less than 1,300,000 NIS – a huge gap of 85%. As you can see, while the average price per square meter in Hadera is 16,653 NIS, a square meter in the neighborhoods close to the beach in Hadera will cost more than thirty thousand NIS on average.
We cross-referenced for you the data using a table. It is important to note that in a number of cities marked with a star, the sea side apartment are somewhat smaller in size compared to the apartments located in the city center, and despite that there is a significant price gap between the prices of the apartment, as we specified.
| City center | Sea side | Difference | % | |
| Tel Aviv – 4 room apartment | 5,650,000 NIS | 7,050,000 NIS | 1,350,000 NIS | 25% |
| Hadera – 4 room apartment | 1,580,000 NIS | 3,450,000 NIS | 1,870,000 NIS | 118% |
| Netanya – 5 room apartment | 2,600,000 NIS | 3,050,000 NIS * | 450,000 NIS | 17% |
| Ashdod – 3 room apartment | 1,450,000 NIS | 1,950,000 NIS | 500,000 NIS | 34% |
| Tel Aviv – 2 room apartment | 2,950,000 NIS | 3,340,000 NIS * | 390,000 NIS | 13% |
| Hadera – 2 room apartment | 700,000 NIS | 1,300,000 NIS | 600,000 NIS | 86% |
| Netanya – 2 room apartment | 1,290,000 NIS | 2,050,000 NIS | 760,000 NIS | 59% |
What Is Driving the Trend?
In an interview for an article on Ynet, Dvir Granot, the vice-president of the Boney Hatichon company, explained why we are willing to pay much more for living next to the beach. “The rise of housing prices in general and the astronomic growth in the luxury housing market in particular have led to the beach becoming a sought-after status symbol”, he explains.
According to him, in one of the projects that the company is constructing in Bat Yam, buyers are willing to pay upwards of twenty percent more for an apartment with partial or full view of the sea. “Other than the view of the sea, the apartments are identical, and are being sold for astronomical price differences”, he says. This phenomenon is seen in other projects as well. For example, in a project promoted by the B. Yair construction company, apartments with a direct line of sight to the beach will cost more than fifty thousand NIS more, when compared to apartments only within walking distance to the beach.
According to Tzahi Alfasi, CEO of the Alfasi Contact company, that specializes in city branding, the prices gaps in Tel Aviv are becoming even more evident. “According to a survey I conducted”, he says, “the difference in the price of a four-room apartment in Tel Aviv located next to the beach and a similar apartment in the city center can reach two million Shekels”. Despite that, the sea side construction trend has not skipped other cities, and today huge projects that offer a view of the sea are being built in Ashkelon, Hadera, and other cities as well (From The Dream: Living Next to the beach. The Price: Much More Expensive, an article from the Ynet site, published on the 31.10.2012).
In summary
Living next to the beach has become more than a status symbol in recent years, and for good reasons – the beautiful sunsets, the possibly of going on walks, and the pleasant breeze on hot summer days have made a sea side apartment the dream of thousands of Israelis.
Therefore, the conclusions are not surprising – there are gaps of tens of percent between apartment prices located close to the beach and apartments located further away. It seems this trend is here to stay – Israel is lacking land and the demand for sea side apartments is only increasing since the supply of private real-estate near the beach is rally finite and limited.
