The pandemic has accelerated the process of migration of people from Turkey's big cities to country houses as much as possible: summer cottages are becoming year-round housing and are more expensive in some regions than apartments in Istanbul. The desire to leave densely populated Istanbul makes hundreds and thousands of Turkish families move for the winter to small resort towns and villages and use summer cottages as year-round housing. Mass migration has affected the Istanbul white-collar category: this group of Istanbul residents use the opportunity to work remotely to leave the city moving for the winter to the resorts of Bodrum, Cesme, Kusadasi, Foça, Seferihisar and others. A calm and secluded life away from the hustle and bustle of the city is what makes people to consider relocation. Instead of city apartments, people choose houses and cottages, which are usually used for summer holidays with their own green space. As a result, the growth in demand for country houses and villas in Turkey has been growing since March 2020 and the Aegean coast is the leader in growth today.
Filiz Akkaya, director of real estate appraisal and investment company EVA:"Thanks to the opening of the new bridge and highway Istanbul-Izmir-Canakkale, Izmir-Aliaga-Candarli and Istanbul-Ursa-Izmir highways, getting from Istanbul to resorts in the surroundings of Izmir have become much easier. And now the Istanbul residents go to Guzelbahce, Urlu, Cesme, Karaburun and other resort villages located near Izmir. Houses with a garden are sold at a much higher price today and now are used not only for summer vacations, but also for living in winter. In the vicinity of Izmir, prices for houses have increased by about 25-30 percent, and for small plots of land (where you can build a house and set up a garden or vineyard) prices have increased by 100 percent."
From January to August 2020, due to the migration of residents of megacities, new and secondary real estate in the regions where it is most in demand, Bodrum and Antalya, has risen in price. So the secondary housing in these provinces has grown in price by 20 percent and new housing - by more than 40 percent. Housing prices in Izmir have grown since the beginning of the year by 17 percent (secondary housing) and more than 20 percent (new housing).