According to experts, the demand for housing is holding its position, but they expect that the market will recover and continue growing after the pandemic ends. The report of the Turkey's Association of Construction Companies says that the confidence index in the construction market has increased by 6.6% in March 2020, and experts expect positive trends in the development of construction of both residential buildings and industrial facilities.
According to the recent real estate market survey, sales have simply stopped.
According to Ksenia Balci (Liga Real Estate Agency, Alanya), all clients are waiting, there are requests for online purchases. However, foreign banks are closed, which makes it impossible for clients to make a deposit for the property they want to buy. The agency is now offering significant discounts and developing an online sales strategy.
Other interviewed agents stated that they are getting enquiries, but there are no active sales so far.
Of course, there are no signs of high demand now. Nevertheless, 108,670 properties were sold in total: 34,089 new homes and 74,581 resale properties. The share of properties sold to foreigners decreased by 3.0% compared to the same month last year and amounted to 3,036 properties (1st place - Istanbul, 2nd place - Antalya, 3rd place - Ankara). Most properties were bought by residents of Iran and Iraq, the third place is occupied by Russians.
During the period between January and March, 341,038 homes were sold, which is 33.0% more than in the same period last year. During the period between January and March, the sales of mortgaged housing increased by 238.6% to 129,299 units, while other types of sales decreased by 3.0% to 211,739 units.
Within the period between January and March, home sales to foreigners increased by 13.8% comparing with the same period last year and amounted to 10,948 homes.
Rental stats
The housing rental market is currently on pause, real estate agencies are experiencing a decline in rental demand and rental prices remain the same. Despite the current quarantine situation, people are still interested in rental properties, agents are getting enquiries but their number is significantly lower. There are new rental property listings, agencies are working on a shorter schedule, and the housing market is still optimistic and agents hope that the market will start recovering with the official opening of the 2020 season.
What do real estate agents say about the current situation?
Liga Real Estate: "The demand for rental housing has also dropped, reservations for March and April have been canceled, and it is highly likely May bookings will also be cancelled."
Invest-property: “We work exclusively with customers from other countries, and this year we got as many enquiries and sales this winter as at the high season. There are still some enquiries coming to our surprise, but these are enquiries with very low budget. We hope that even due with the late opening of the season in our region, demand will quickly recover."
Exclusival Group: "Our rental department is having a break, there are almost no enquiries, although this is the high season for bookings."
Country house rentals stats
There is no considerable growth in demand for rental of country houses, since tenant activity is relatively low. The level of unemployment is growing and even in the remote areas with quite low price tags for country house rentals, there is no demand for country houses and villas.
As a rule, in Turkey, most families have relatives living in the countryside, so few people need to rent a villa. As for foreigners, this type of housing is also not a priority.
However, with stricter isolation measures and the hot weather, there may be a higher demand for country houses, especially among families with children.
Some of experts share this opinion and they also say that the demand for real estate in the context of the coronavirus pandemic is unexpectedly continuing to grow, especially when it comes to summer house rentals on the west coast - Canakkale, Bodrum. The reason for such demand may be the increasing number of cases and as a result people are thinking to leave their cities for a while.
Read also:
Part 1. How Turks deal with restrictions. Quarantine restrictions in Turkey