Last year's home sales in Turkey reached the level of 1,449,000 units sold, which is 11% or 150,587 units more than in 2019.
From January to December 2020, mortgage sales of residential real estate in Turkey increased by 72.4% on an annualized basis (573,377 units sold on a mortgage) while direct sales (without mortgages) decreased by 8.9% (925,979 units). The share of mortgage sales in 2020 was 38.2% of the total while the share of direct sales reached 61.8%.
As for new apartment sales, their number decreased by 8.2% - 469,740 units sold while the sales of secondary properties increased by 23%, reaching 1,029,576 units. New home sales accounted for 31.3% of the total annual volume and the share of second-hand housing sales accounted for a record 68.7%. In other words, 2020 became the year of record sales of secondary housing in Turkey.
Istanbul topped the list of cities with the highest home sales (265,098 units or 17.7% of total sales). Ankara was the second popular spot with 157,095 units sold or 10.5%. The third top city was Izmir with 93,457 units or 6.2%. The smallest number of sales was recorded in 2020 in Ardahan - only 192 deals.
December home sales stats
The last month in 2020 ended quite positively with 105,981 units sold in Turkey. However, if to compare these figures with December sales in 2019, this year's sales decreased by 47.6%. The largest number of sales in December was registered in Istanbul (20,236 units or 19.1%). The second place was taken by Ankara with 9,990 units sold in December or 9.4%. The third popular city was Izmir with 5,794 units or 5.5%. The lowest number of property sales in December was registered in the provinces of Ardahan (18 units), Hakkari (20 units) and Bayburt (100 units).
November mortgage sales
By December 2020, the mortgage boom in Turkey came to naught. Compared to December 2019, mortgage home sales decreased by 70.9% and amounted to 14,631 units. The share of mortgage sales accounted for only 13.8% of total December sales. Istanbul took the first place (3,251 units or 22.2%) and Hakkari with two units sold was the last in the list.
December direct sales (with no mortgage)
Direct sales of residential properties in Turkey decreased in December by 39.8 percent year on year and amounted to 91,350 properties. Istanbul became the leader in sales (16,985 units or 18.6% of the total direct sales in December). The share of direct sales in December amounted to an impressive 83.9% of the total Istanbul property sales. Ankara took the second place with 8,179 units and Izmir - the third with 4,759 units. The lowest direct sales in December were registered in the province of Ardahan with 15 units sold.
New apartment sales stats in Turkey in December
The number of new home sales decreased in December by 51.5% on an annualized basis and amounted to 36,898 units. The share of new home sales amounted to 34.8% of the total sales. Istanbul became the leader in new home sales again with 6,391 units sold or 17.3%. Ankara took the second place with 2,332 units and Izmir - the third with 1,789 units.
December secondary home sales stats
December sales of secondary housing in Turkey decreased by 45.4% on an annualized basis and amounted to 69,083 units. The sales leaders included Istanbul (13,845 units or 20%), Ankara (7,658 units) and Izmir (4,005 units). The share of secondary home sales in Istanbul amounted to 68.4% of the total home sales.
Turkey's real estate sales to foreigners in 2020
In 2020, despite the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, foreigners bought 40,812 homes in Turkey, which is only 10.3% less than in 2019. Istanbul again became the top destination among foreign investors (19,175 units), the second top spot was the province of Antalya (7,735 units), Ankara became the third one (2,746 units) and Bursa - the fourth one (1,340 units).
What countries were the most active property buyers in Turkey? TOP property buyers in 2020 included nationals from the following countries:
- Iran (7,189 units);
- Iraq (6,674 units);
- Russia (3,078 units);
- Afghanistan (1,929 units);
- Azerbaijan (1,279 units).
Home sales to foreigners in December 2020
In December, property sales to foreign buyers in Turkey decreased on an annualized basis by 16.4 percent and amounted to 4,427 properties. 2,308 units were sold in Istanbul, 789 units - in Antalya, 273 units - in Ankara, 159 - in Mersin and 131 - in Yalova.