Property for sale in Turkey continues to prove attractive to foreigners wishing to stake a claim on the country’s real estate market with the number of homes and land plots purchased by non-Turkish residents doubling within the first six months of 2013.
It amounted to a USD 720 million investment in Turkey between January and March 2013 which makes the Turkish government’s hopes of attracting USD 3 billion of property investment by foreigners by the end of the year, perfectly feasible. Foreigners spent USD 2.6 million on property in Turkey in 2012 – a third more than the previous year.
Nationally, house sale numbers (incl. purchases by Turkish nationals) are significantly buoying. Government figures released just this week state 568,836 properties have so far sold. That’s less than 20 per cent short of last year’s total figure!
Home hunters with an eye on the popular coastal resort regions of Mugla, comprising Fethiye, can also particularly take heart that a purchase here will be well placed. Property sale numbers have so far marked a six fold increase on 2012 – and we’re only mid-year! Backed by all the town initiatives for Fethiye, such news can only bode well for vendors and home values alike.
More foreign nationals buy property in Turkey
Official figures from the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning show that this year 7,145 pieces of land and Turkey property were bought by foreign nationals, compared to 3,107 in the same period last year. And it’s not only in terms of the number of real estate and plots bought that the figures have increased; the buyers are now from more countries than ever before (88 compared to 55 last year).
The British are the second most prevalent nation in Turkish non-resident property buying circles, with 720 UK citizens having purchased homes there within January and June this year. They were surpassed only by the Russians (by far the largest group of non-resident house buyers) with 1,388 Russian citizens snapping up homes and land in Turkey within the same period. Next most prevalent is Germany which is also proving a major contender with 653 purchases last year.
New laws make buying property in Turkey easier
Meanwhile, here at Oceanwide Properties Turkey we can’t help noticing that countries of citizens who, in the past were prevented from purchasing land and property in Turkey now seem to be making the most of the new law which eased up on the reciprocity principle (previously Turkey only allowed residents from countries which allowed Turkish citizens to settle in their own land to invest there).
Other changes in the law making Turkey more attractive to foreign investors looking at property and land purchases in the country have also been introduced. These include the right for a foreigner to automatically gain Turkish citizenship after five years.
What the increasing investment in Turkey means is not only confidence in the country’s economy (which avoided the worst of the recession suffered by EU nationals) but also its political situation.
Turkey’s political situation more stable than surrounding nations
Like many surrounding countries Turkey too experienced political unrest and rioting in its capital Ankara, Istanbul and several other larger cities. However their duration and intensity were much shorter.
The riots were accompanied by calls for Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to introduce a less authoritarian style of government and to loosen up on his imposition of what many residents perceive as conservative Islamic values on the country. His so-called ‘heavy handedness’ in dispelling the riots led to a row between Turkey and Germany.
Turkey to join the EU within next 15 years
It’s strongly believed, however, that Turkey could become a member of the EU within the next 15 years (Germany would prefer Turkey having a ‘partnership’ rather than full blown membership). Negotiations for Turkey’s entry into the Union began in 2005 and are currently ongoing, with its strong, young labour force viewed as particularly appealing to other European nations.
Find out more about the Turkish real estate market, properties currently for sale there, and information about the country in general at our website Oceanwide Properties today.
You can view the latest housing statistics on the Turkish Statistical Institute website
