In Turkey, statistics on property sales to foreign buyers have been collected and maintained. But, the Turks began collecting detailed information more than 9 years ago in 2013. And right now, it'll be useful to compare different rates and analyze the dynamics. What achievements have been acknowledged over the years in the construction sector and real estate market in Turkey?
Content:
- 300.000 transactions with foreigners
- The share of foreigners among investors has quadrupled
- Ankara is “pulling up” to Istanbul and Antalya
- Iran and Iraq are in the lead but Russians are catching up
- $ 41.300.000.000 in 9 years
- Statistics from a different angle: Emlak Konut GYO
- Branded housing is the most in-demand
300.000 transactions with foreigners
Over the past 9 years, the number of residences sold to buyers from abroad is a little bit below 300,000. To be precise, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), 293,271 housing units were sold.
During the same period, $ 41.3 billion (transactions worth $ 250,000 or more) was spent on real estate with an eye to speeding up citizenship.
The financial “threshold” for express citizenship for foreigners who buy real estate was reduced by 4 times (this happened a few years ago. Now a new increase is planned, as we show below). This caused an increase in sales. And during the sharp devaluation of the Turkish lira in 2021, foreigners had a record number of transactions: 58,576 residences in a year. In 2022, market participants expect international buyers to cross the threshold of 70,000 transactions.
Keep in mind that the Turkish Citizenship by Investment Program started in 2017. Initially, the minimum investment amount was $ 1,000,000 but a year later it was reduced to $ 250,000. But, it's recently become clear that this amount will be increased to $ 400,000 very soon, probably within the upcoming days. The question is how quickly the decree, approved by the Government, will come into force.
The share of foreigners among investors has quadrupled
In 2013, the share of buyers who were residents of other countries accounted for 1.1% of the total number of transactions. It increased to 4.5% by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
This figure is the national average: in Antalya, the most popular province for foreign investors, 15,386 apartments or houses were sold in January-March 2022. Non-residents bought 3,447 units - a total of 22.4%.
For comparison: at the same time, 57,836 property units were sold in Istanbul, making it one of the known leaders in terms of demand among interested parties from other countries. 5,974 of them or 10.3% were sold to foreign buyers. The table shows the exact breakdown information by year.
| Year | The total number of transactions | Housing sales to foreigners | The share of foreigners among buyers, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1,157,190 | 12,181 | 1.1 |
| 2014 | 1,165,381 | 18,959 | 1.6 |
| 2015 | 1,289,320 | 22,830 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | 1,341,453 | 18,189 | 1.4 |
| 2017 | 1,409 314 | 22,234 | 1.6 |
| 2018 | 1,375 398 | 39,663 | 2.9 |
| 2019 | 1,348,729 | 45,483 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 1,499,316 | 40,812 | 2.7 |
| 2021 | 1,491,856 | 58,576 | 3.9 |
| 2022 (January - March) | 320,063 | 14,344 | 4.5 |
Ankara is “pulling up” to Istanbul and Antalya
Since 2013, the total number of transactions by foreigners in Istanbul reached 116,258. In Antalya, the figure is 67,766.
Ankara is another province foreigners are increasingly interested in (the capital and its surroundings). 14,577 transactions were made during this period.
The demand is growing for the Izmir province and for the most popular resort, Bodrum, in the province of Muğla, especially when it comes to wealthy Russian buyers.
Iran and Iraq are in the lead but Russians are catching up
In Turkey, ranking buyers by nationality extremely precisely began after 2013. According to statistics, Iraqis have purchased 44,092 housing units in Turkey since 2015, while Iranians bought 30,776 units. The citizens of these states have stayed in the lead among the buyers of Turkish real estate.
Russians are in the third place. They purchased 19,773 apartments or houses during the same period. Ukrainians also bought plenty of properties – 5,338 units of residential real estate.
But, in 2022, taking into account the flow of buyers from the Russian Federation and Ukraine flooding into Turkey, the situation may change dramatically at the end of the year. Citizens of both countries have practically changed the housing market for sale in a short period of time.
$ 41.300.000.000 in 9 years
Despite a shortage of affordable housing for local residents, the Government is encouraging foreigners to buy real properties to fund contractors and compensate current deficits. According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, more than $ 40.000.000.000 was received for housing sales and purchasing commercial real estate and land plots by investors from abroad during this period, especially in the most promising areas.
Statistics from a different angle: Emlak Konut GYO
The information provided by Emlak Konut GYO, the Turkish Real Estate Investment Company, is quite telling.
Between January 1 and March 31, 2022, 1,043 independent properties were sold with a total value of $ 6,429,770,925 Turkish Lira (TL) excluding VAT and with a total area of 190,513 m² in projects by Emlak Konut GYO.
67 of them (a total amount of 410,371,594 TL excluding VAT) were purchased by foreign citizens.
The detailed annual data is below:
2015
Total sales – TL 5,882,242,827
Sales to foreigners – TL 1,051,733,114
2016
Total sales – TL 5,632,802,169
Sales to foreigners – TL 446,395,363
2017
Total sales – TL 6,547,377,594
Sales to foreigners – TL 415,144,869
2018
Total sales – TL 6,039,862,537
Sales to foreigners – TL 1,109,764,485
2019
Total sales – TL 2,868,194,465
Sales to foreigners – TL 753,754,873
2020
Total sales – TL 15,151,110,811
Sales to foreigners – TL 1,011,446,798
2021
Total sales – TL 17,143,229,751
Sales to foreigners – TL 2,186,744,29
Branded housing is the most in-demand
The results of the traditional REIDIN-GYODER New Housing Price Index have been announced for March 2022 (details of this rating for transactions with foreigners in February can be found here).
In this specialized study, the best-selling housing of the month has been determined. This best-selling property is a part of different branded units:
- 1 + 1 apartments (the most preferred) – 63.16% of all transactions;
- 2+1 – 18.42% of transactions;
- 3+1 – 5.26%;
- 4+1 – 5.26%;
- the rest – 7.89%.
Also, in March 2022, 71.30% of the residences sold in branded properties were ready-made and 28.70% off-plan properties.
20.68% of sales in branded residential complexes were for by foreign investors in the third month of the year.
Generally, in March, the number of transactions with foreign buyers increased by 20% compared to February. In January-March, this rate immediately grew by 45.1% compared to the first quarter of 2021. This allows us to hope for similar dynamics until the end of the year.