Community Mortgage vs First-Home Grant
Community mortgage = 25-year state loan. First-home grant = purchase-tax discount for first-time buyers.
Side A
Community Mortgage
โช600K, 25 years
Side B
First-Home Grant
Purchase-tax discount
Comparison table
| ยท | Community Mortgage | First-Home Grant |
|---|---|---|
| Aid type | Long-term loan | Tax discount |
| Amount | โช600,000 | 5%-7% of property value in tax savings |
| Payment | 0% for 10 years, 2% for 15 years | No payment (saves at purchase) |
| Eligible | Ethiopian-Israelis only | Any Israeli first-time buyer |
| Approval process | Registration is closed โ no open round (about 800 families in total) | Automatic at purchase |
| Both? | Yes | Yes |
Your life โ both, not either
Buying a home? Both apply. Community mortgage = the loan. First-home grant = purchase-tax discount. Both run on the same transaction.
Example calc
โช1.2M apartment:
- No programs: โช240K equity + โช960K loan @ 3% โ ~โช4,500/mo.
- Community mortgage only: โช240K equity + โช600K @ 0%/2% + โช360K supplementary @ 3% โ ~โช3,200/mo.
- Purchase tax: a ILS 1.2M apartment is exempt from purchase tax anyway for any single-home buyer โ no tax up to ILS 1,978,745 (Tax Authority instruction 1/2026). The oleh track only starts to matter above roughly ILS 2M, so there is no saving here. The figure previously stated was removed.
Action plan
- Check eligibility for community mortgage โ calculator.
- Registration is closed. There is no open round; the ministry has removed the programme pages.
- When you pick the apartment โ request first-home grant from your lawyer automatically.
- Sign contract with both aids in place.