For some time, we undeservedly paid little attention to Turkish cities, focusing mainly on Istanbul. That was a mistake and this unfortunate omission needs to be corrected today.
Let us briefly touch on metropolises. Istanbul, with almost 15 million people, if not more, takes first place in terms of size and population. The capital of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara, is in second place with a population of 5 million. Izmir is in third place with three million citizens. The same number of people reside in Bursa. Then come Adana, Gaziantep, Konya, the “resort capital”, Antalya, Kayseri, and the capitals of several other provinces. The above-mentioned places have a million inhabitants, more or less. Mersin will catch up on a series of indicators soon. A large number of individuals come here with families and are currently employed as specialists of a narrow profile. The province is actively developing as. Akkuyu, the nation's first nuclear power plant, is under construction. You can predict the “development” of this area and the significance of resort services thanks to its “sea” location.
Let's go back to four cities and talk about their sales statistics. Specifically: the results of July 2022 in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Bursa, which were published on one of the key websites on Turkish real estate platforms (Emlaksayfasi).
July is, after all, a very telling month on several simultaneous parameters. First, it is the middle of summer. The results for the first six months of the year are obvious. Forecasts for the second half of the year are starting to happen. Additionally, August and July are frequently the “peak” months of the year for real estate sales (though not always).
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Istanbul
So, the statistics of home sales in the Turkish metropolis for the seventh month of 2022 are as follows.
In July, 14,350 apartments were sold in Istanbul, 15.3% of the total number in the country.
There were also 2,975 transactions, so-called “mortgage” sales (thanks to the mortgage lending option).
Other categories, without involving home loans, amounted to 11,375 sold units. This is three times higher than “mortgage” sales. Istanbul is, after all, quite an expensive city in terms of real estate. Few buyers are inclined to trust their “future” to banks in the long run. Well, we do not discount the assumption that a certain percentage of participants in non-mortgage risks are foreigners who actively invest in Turkey’s largest city. Let us remind you that in 2022, authorities restricted the ability to obtain a mortgage (which was “handed out” rather generously in previous years) to foreign investors who did not have Turkish residence permits or citizenship.
The volume of transactions in new buildings (first-hand housing) reached 3,908 in July 2022.
There were almost three times as many deals with second-hand homes: 10,422 residences in this category went into the hands of new owners. By the way, it should be noted that with every passing year, Istanbul has ranked first in Turkey in terms of sales of secondary housing.
There are several reasons for this. One of them is the fact that the metropolis is very densely built up, and new projects simply cannot be squeezed into the most sought-after areas. Additionally, the “secondary” category of not-too-spacious apartments in the old housing stock is selling like hotcakes. Istanbul home buyers are recommended to thoroughly inspect the facility's condition and ensure, if possible, that it is no “older” than 15 or 17 years.
As we have already stated, a significant portion of Istanbul's apartment and even home buyers are foreigners. International investors bought 3,939 housing dwellings in the whole of Turkey in July of this year. 1,154 of these units were in Istanbul, accounting for about a third of the total.
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Ankara
Next is Ankara, the capital of the Republic of Turkey. In July, the city was “noted” with a rate of 7,417 transactions per month. After Istanbul, Ankara has the highest share of sales in the country, 7.9%.
Mortgages are quite in demand here. In July 2022, 1,962 sales were conducted in this category. According to this indicator, Ankara is the “silver prize winner” in the country, after Istanbul.
Additionally, many real estate purchase transactions happen without the need to take out mortgage loans. In July, there were 5,455 transactions. This is 2.5 times more than during the same period last year.
In the capital, 1,318 new properties were sold in the mentioned month. But there were four times more “second-hand” homes sold - 6,099. So, in Ankara, the difference between the volume of purchases of new buildings and “second-hand” housing is much more noticeable.
Foreigners purchased 148 residences in this metropolis in July.
Izmir
Izmir is next. The city combines the advantages of both a very developed metropolis and a resort.
In July, 4,868 real estate units were sold here. In July, Izmir achieved 5.2% of all home sales. This may not seem much, but Izmir has consistently maintained a 5% indicator for a considerable amount of time, indicating that its popularity is not fading. Since Izmir has a unique nature, sales cannot be characterized as exponentially growing. This includes “characteristics” like seismic risk and, at the same time, high property prices (we have already talked about “sky-high costs” for most key urban areas and in prestigious locations like Karsiyaki).
But Izmir is regarded as Turkey's "most European" city, which inevitably draws attention to it.
Regarding individual parameters: mortgage sales - 1,083 homes or apartments were bought in Izmir using mortgages in July.
The volume of non-mortgage transactions here is almost four times higher than mortgage transactions. 3,785 real estate units were purchased in July.
1,315 new buildings were sold this month as well. 3, 553 transactions took place in the category of second-hand housing.
By the way, the experts specify that Izmir has taken third place in the TOP-3 around the country in both these parameters, the volume of sales of both first and second-hand houses, for the first time in a rather long period.
Unfortunately, no information on the actual volume of transactions with foreigners in Izmir in July has been released.
Bursa
This metropolis, which rarely makes it to the Turk Estate newsfeed, actually shows rates comparable to the “successes” of Izmir or is not too far behind.
In Bursa, in particular, 3,538 homes were sold in July 2022. This month was notable for the Bursa’s contribution of 3.8% to the nation's total amount of house sales. Bursa took fifth place ( Istanbul was first, Ankara was second, Izmir – third, and Antalya fourth).
In terms of mortgage loan transactions, in July, 751 residential units were sold in this metropolis. By the way, Bursa was in fourth place in this category in July.
In July, there were 2,787 transactions in which new homeowners decided against mortgages.
In the segment of newly built (primary) housing, 1,156 transactions were recorded. In the segment of “secondary housing”, 2,382 transactions took place. The difference is almost double. According to the latest indicator, Bursa is once again in fifth place, once again after Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya.
In the same month, 165 residences were sold to foreigners in Bursa. In this case, Bursa is in fourth place among all the Turkish cities.