Turkey tops European property price hike expectations

ANKARA. KAZINFORM Turkey topped the list of European countries that are expected to sustain real estate price increases in the next 12 months, according to a recently released survey conducted by ING bank.

The 15-country survey features responses from more than 14,000 people, and the anticipation of a rise in real estate prices in Turkey grew to 82 percent, a 10 percent increase from last year. Of the Turkish participants, 55 percent said they felt that real estate prices would increase if interest rates fell.

A full 42 percent of Turkish homeowners polled said they have a monthly mortgage payment, whereas the figure was considerably lower on average in Europe at 25 percent. While 46 percent of Europeans polled said they viewed purchasing a home as an investment, the figure was significantly higher among Turkish participants at 79 percent.

Separate data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on Tuesday indicates that in August, 112,463 homes were sold in Turkey, a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase. The number of homes sold in Turkey to foreign nationals increased 15.2 percent year-on-year last month. Citizens of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and England, respectively, were the top five foreign buyers of homes in Turkey in August.

A total of 2,044 homes were sold to foreigners, and the provinces with the highest interest from foreign buyers were İstanbul, Antalya, Bursa, Yalova, Sakarya and Trabzon. İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, the country's three largest provinces, had the most home sales, accounting for roughly one-third of all homes sold in Turkey, while the provinces of Ardahan, Hakkari and Bayburt had the lowest sales figures. In the month of August, 47.3 percent of the homes sold were brand new while the remaining 52.7 percent were used home sales.

Sales were overall considerably more encouraging in August in comparison to July. Home sales recorded a 13.5 percent increase in the month of July, compared to the same month a year ago; yet the volume proved to be the lowest in the last six-month period which saw sales edge above the 100,000 mark. The 13.5 percent rise was the lowest increase on record this year, indicating a slowdown in market activity. Significant interest was shown in high-investment Turkish real estate projects by Gulf investors at a recent real estate fair in Dubai that featured heavy participation from Turkish contractors. The sector hopes that the fair will result in a boost.

Source: Today's Zaman