Despite all problems caused by the lockdown, developers and real estate agencies continue working online. Real estate websites offer video reviews of apartments and projects, video inspection and 3D tours.
Alina Mustafina (Yekta Homes, a developer in Alanya) says: “The construction of our projects is going as planned, without any delays. We also are actively working online. We offer online property booking agreements (a client pays 5% of its value) - an apartment will be reserved until the client visits our office. We also continue consulting our clients online and offer video property tours. Surely, sales have decreased but we expect that with the opening of borders, everything will return to the previous level."
Mehmet Babacan (CEO Holding): “At the moment, for the safety of our employees, most of the personnel are working from home. We are working online and all property transactions are currently being made online. We are also going to develop 3D models of all properties we offer for sale. Now if our clients want to buy a property, first we show properties online, then after discussing terms and conditions of a deal, we prepare papers for the first step of a transaction and a client makes a deposit via internet banking.
Muhammet Barman (Beyttürk): “We started actively booking property for sale for our clients by phone. Of course, in the current circumstances, almost all of our staff are working from their home offices, and we continue to communicate with our clients and get enquiries. As before, all our projects are available for viewing online on the website. Our company works with clients in four languages: English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, and these clients are still interested in purchasing real estate and sending us their enquiries.”
Faruk Akbal (Nevita Group): "Obviously, sales to foreigners have stopped, so we are thinking about a complete update of our marketing strategy and the further development of online sales." Developers continue construction works following the new safety rules: workers should keep as much distance from each other as possible and reduce direct communication. Of course, this has led to reductions in workers at construction sites, however it has not led to a complete “freeze” of construction works.
APRIL SALES AND RENTALS FORECAST
Coronavirus undoubtedly has had a negative impact on all business areas, and the construction market has been no exception. According to the head of the Construction Department, Sedat Kılınç, sales in the domestic market after the quarantine was introduced have reduced, sales to foreign buyers have practically been stopped, investor capacity is currently at an extremely low level, which is quite natural at the moment considering the situation. “However, we all certainly hope for a positive development of the construction market after the quarantine is cancelled.”
It is difficult to talk about any positive trends in April 2020, as all restrictive safety measures in Turkey will not be cancelled until April 30. Sales are expected to remain at their minimum.
According to the TurkStat, the confidence index in the construction sector in March 2020 decreased by 3.7%, while the statistics on the property value expectations and the number of workers involved in this sector for the second quarter of 2020 increased.
In the construction sector, 37.1% of enterprises said there were no factors limiting their activities in March, and 62.9% said that at least one negative factor was limiting their activities. The most important factors affecting the business in the construction industry in March included funding problems (42.0%), lack of sales (31.1%) and weather conditions (11.2%).
Read also:
Part 1. How Turks deal with restrictions. Quarantine restrictions in Turkey