The best-selling and most expensive areas in Turkey

The prospects of investments in Turkish real estate and the payback period are influenced, among other things, by choosing the area well - not just the province or city.

So, where were the most properties sold in 2021?

Content:

• TOP 10 leaders
• More than 10,000 transactions
• Less than 1,000 transactions
• The most expensive districts in 2021
• Increase in price of up to 112%
• Some more sought-after areas with high price tag
• Istanbul is at the peak of popularity and prices

More than 10,000 transactions

According to official data provided by the analytical agency TÜIK, based on data collection from areas with a population of more than 150,000 people, the most housing units were sold in the Esenyurt district (Istanbul) - 37 102 transactions took place here in a year. Moreover, 1,127,875 units of residential real estate were sold annually.

The popularity of Esenyurt is because you can find housing that suits almost any budget. There are spacious apartments and very small ones, new buildings and secondary housing, or high-rise buildings and low-rise buildings.

Although the total number of transactions across Turkey decreased by 0.5% compared to the final figures of 2020, it increased by 2.4% in the Esenyurt district. According to the data, 2.5 out of every 100 houses that changed hands across the country were sold in Esenyurt.

Esenyurt is followed by Chankaya, the central district of Ankara with 26,229 transactions per year.

In third place is Kechioren in Ankara (23,170). In fourth is Nilufer in Bursa (19,475) and Mamak in Ankara (18,358) is fifth.

Antalya and its Kepez district are a few spots behind with 18,064 transactions for 2021.

The seventh spot is occupied by Ankara’s Etymesgut district with 16,930.

In eighth place is Shehitkamil in Gaziantep with a minimum margin from Etymesgut (16,546). In ninth is Alanya. This can be allocated to a separate province with 15,312 sales.

A rather conservative district closes the TOP10 – this is Seljuklu in Konya with 15,225 sales.

Thus, 4 metropolitan districts in Ankara were in the TOP-10 for 2021 sales. The list also includes 2 districts from Antalya and one each from Istanbul, Gaziantep, Bursa and Konya.

The above data is presented in the table below:

More than 10,000 transactions

Real estate sales exceeded 10,000 transactions in 31 districts of 166.

In particular, Shahin Bey (Gaziantep) sold 14,206 residences.. Melikgazi (Kayseri, 13,440 sales); Yenimahalle (Ankara again, 14,629), Sinjan (Ankara, 13,511), Beylikduzu (Istanbul, 13,291).

Besides, Pendik, Dying and Kadikey (Istanbul), Muratpasha (Antalya) and Tepebashi (Eskisehir), Antalya Muratpasha, Kadikey and Eskisehir-Tepebashi were also among the TOP 20 districts.

Less than 1,000 transactions

In 3 districts with a population of more than 150,000 people, less than 1000 sales took place in 2021. The anti-leader is the Tusba district in the Van province with 557 sales.

The second place in the anti–rating, according to data by TÜIK, is held by the popular Istanbul district of Beykoz (639). Very few people can afford real estate here and prices continue to grow.

Next is Ercish (in Van) with 678 transactions.

The district of Cizre (Shyrnak) has barely passed the thousandth threshold with 1021 transactions.

Areas with fewer transactions are as follows:

• Ceyhan (Adana) - 1208;
• Viranshehir (Sanliurfa) - 1225;
• Eyyubiye (Sanliurfa) - 1481;
• Merkez (Agra) - 1541.

The most expensive districts in 2021

Summing up the indicators of the real estate sector over the past year, the Hepsiemlak portal added announced «the most expensive areas in Turkey».

The leadership here belongs to the Besiktas district of Istanbul; the average price per 1 sq.m exceeded TL 28,000 (back in early November, this was equal to TL 27,521).

The next most expensive is Saryer (Istanbul) with a gap in price per square meter with Besiktas of just several lira. In third place is the fastest–paying Cesme (Izmir) and in fourth place, the recent leader Bodrum (Mugla). In these areas, the price per 1 sq.m of residential real estate has already exceeded TL 18,000.

The prices in the Istanbul districts of Bakyrkey, Kadykey, Beykoz and Adalar ranged from 17,000 to TL 14,000. In Izmir Url and Foch, it exceeded TL 12,000.

Increase in price of up to 112%

If we compare the average increase in prices per square meter with the figures of the previous year, it is 36-112%. In the vast majority of districts, it ranges from 46-88%.

Areas on the seashore remain highly valued. So, by the end of 2021, the coastal areas with high ROI real estate were Foca, Dikili, Seferihisar, Urla, Menderes Izmir, Milas, Kadikey, Atashehir, Deshemealty and Konyaalty. The price increased from 69% to 112%.

Some more sought-after areas with high price tags

The districts of Nilufer in Bursa, Mamak in Ankara, Kepez in Antalya, Etymesgut in Ankara, Shekhit Kamil in Gaziantep, Alanya in Antalya and Selcuklu in Konya were also included in the list of areas with impressive selling prices for residential real estate. However, some of them are inland, far from the sea. What makes them attractive is that they belong to «promising» provinces.

Istanbul is at the peak of popularity and prices

Istanbul remains the most popular city with the most housing purchases. It is especially popular among foreigners – it is in first place for foreign buyers.

Analysts at Endeksa.com, a real estate valuation platform, named 7 districts in Istanbul where the average house price exceeded 1,000,000 Turkish lira (TL).

After the Central Bank of Turkey lowered the discount rate by 200 basis points, state-owned banks issued a joint statement and announced a reduction in interest rates on housing loans. They applied interest rates of 1.29% for loans less than TL 1,000,000 and 1.34% for loans over TL 1,000,000.

Thus, the attention of potential buyers has been focused on the following Istanbul districts with average housing costs of more than 1,000,000 lira: Adalar, Bakyrkey, Besiktas, Beykoz, Kadikoy, Saryer and Shile.

As reported by Endeksa.com, at the end of 2021, the average price per square meter of a residential building in Istanbul was TL 5,111, the average cost per housing unit was TL 577,543, and the payback period for investments in the metropolis was about 22 years. However, by January-February 2022, this data has been updated but has not yet been made public.

Both developers and buyers are waiting for an even greater reduction in the interest rate from banks as this will raise sales almost immediately.

The figures from a year ago are as follows. In January 2021, accurate data was released for 2020. Esenyurt was leading for the largest number of transactions in Istanbul with 36,234 sales. In second place was Beylikduzu with 13,645 sales, and in third place, Pendik with 13,585 sales. Some other areas were as follows:

• Sanjaktepe – 12,143 transactions;
• Dying – 11,667;
• Basaksehir – 11,453;
• Kadikey – 10,732;
• Kartal – 10,219.

Among the districts with fewer than 10,000 transactions, Checkmeks were marked in last year's rating (8,309 transactions but with an increase of 37% over the year).

8,200 residences were sold in Bakhchelievler;

8069 - Maltepe;

7242 - Atashehir;

7070 - Buyukchekmedzh;

7016 - Kyuchukchekmedzha;

6931 – Tuzla;

6809 – Avdzhylar;

6676 - Sultangazi;

6579 -  Kyaithan;

6136 -  Gaziosmanpash;

5892 - Eyupsultana;

5482 - Bagdzhylar;

4026 - Silivri;

5249 –Uskyudar.

Less than 5,000 residences were sold in 2020 in the following districts: Beykoz, Beyoglu, Esenler, Gungeren, Bayrampasha, Saryer, Zeytinburnu, Shishli, Bakyrkey, Fatih and Arnavutkey.

The fewest were sold in Beykoz.

So, according to the figures for 2020, we can roughly assume which districts will have the most demand for the next year or 2 at least.

Turkey is now the leader in terms of housing sales throughout Europe with 276,223 transactions. Moreover, 22% of people who invest in housing can expect Turkish citizenship. This figure is much higher for those who purchase real estate in Istanbul at 38%.