Real estate sales in Turkey - January 2021

January of this year 2021 witnessed a successful launch of the real estate ownership sector in Turkey by foreigners, especially members of the Arab community, where Fanar Realty monitored the monthly statistics issued by the Turkish Statistical Institute regarding the sale of real estate to foreigners in Turkey.

In light of the mentioned statistics, we have attached to you an economic analysis showing the meaning of the numbers and statistics, as well as expectations for the future of real estate ownership in Turkey in general, and for foreigners in particular. 

Accompany us in this detailed report.

Statistics of foreign ownership of the real estate in Turkey

The number of real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey reached 2,712 properties during the first month of 2021. Although the number decreased relatively compared to the number of real estate sales during the same month of the last year 2020, it is still an important number and reflects the gradual overcoming of the real estate sector in Turkey over the procedures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the country. 

Among the important readings of the statistics of real estate ownership in Turkey by foreigners during this month:

• Every day in January 2021, foreigners buy at least 87 properties

• The percentage of real estate ownership for foreigners in Turkey is 3.84% of the total real estate sales in the country

In general, real estate sales are not at a high level during the first quarter of each year due to the advent of winter and the small number of foreign tourists who visit Turkey, and thus the number of real estate ownership operations decreases, and there are still great hopes for an increase in the number of real estate sales to foreigners in the coming months, and we will discuss that in Later paragraph of this article.

Most Turkish states in which foreigners own property.

The month of January 2021 did not bring any change to the list of states preferred by foreigners to live and settle in. Istanbul alone won 50.88% of the total real estate sales to foreigners, followed by Antalya with about 17.03% and then Ankara with 6.60%

The statistics of the Turkish states. 

Here is a list of the ten most preferred states by foreigners in Turkey, with the percentage of sales in each state, for the January 2021 statistic:

Why does Istanbul have the most real estate sales?

​​For centuries, Istanbul has maintained its vitality and its distinctive geographical location and represented for foreigners the largest destination for immigration and stability in Turkey, and the vitality of this state has increased due to the great activity of foreign communities in it, and many other factors that encourage more foreigners to live in it, which can be summarized in points next:

• The geographical location and the nature of the state that encourages the coexistence of foreign communities with the Turks

• The touristic position enjoyed by the state of Istanbul

• There are very encouraging and abundant job opportunities

• The most prestigious Turkish universities are located in Istanbul

• The largest real estate construction projects are located in Istanbul

• Istanbul also receives wide-ranging and powerful promotional and advertising attention

• Modern infrastructure in Istanbul encourages stability

Decreased demand for foreigners to live in Trabzon

The state of Trabzon, which was receiving great attention from the Saudi and Iraqi communities mainly, witnessed a significant decrease in the ownership of real estate by Arab communities in Turkey during January 2021 for two main reasons:

• The significant decline in the percentage of Saudis owning real estate in Turkey

• Iraqis in Turkey went to other provinces, such as Istanbul and Ankara

The next paragraph will be devoted to talking about foreign nationals owning real estate in Turkey.

The most famous nationalities that have in Turkey

Iranians and Iraqis have maintained a good share of the total real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey, and we will talk a little bit about the reality of real estate ownership according to the most important foreign nationalities after reviewing the official statistics of the most 20 foreign communities whose children bought real estate in Turkey during January 2021:
 

From the previous figures we can note the following:

• Among the most famous 20 foreign nationalities, 8 Arab nationalities stand out, which have a large percentage of real estate sold to foreigners during this month.

• The biggest reason for the increase in the percentage of Iranians among real estate buyers is that businessmen from Iran went to Turkey to own and invest in real estate to escape the economic collapse in their country.

• It is noted that Iraqis in Turkey have maintained a respectable percentage in the field of real estate ownership, benefiting from the geographical proximity and the improvement of relations between Turkey and Iraq, in addition to the clear increase in the number of the Iraqi community in Turkey.

• The decline of Kuwaitis who own real estate in Turkey is natural, as Kuwaitis are looking for tourism real estate investments in the first place, and the Corona crisis has affected their desire to own real estate in Turkey during the current period.

• Since the middle of last year, the number of Lebanese and Sudanese buying real estate in Turkey has been gradually increasing.

The future of real estate ownership in Turkey

The real estate market in Turkey is still proving day after day the extent of its ability to recover from the Corona crisis, which is the biggest challenge facing all economic sectors, not only in Turkey but worldwide.

We will not talk about expectations and numbers, as we are still talking about the first month of this year, and the coming months will bear clearer signs that determine precisely the extent of the possibilities that real estate ownership enjoys in Turkey, but we will talk about the challenges that determine the future of real estate ownership during this year:

• The improvement in the exchange rate of the Turkish lira is an incentive for those wishing to obtain Turkish citizenship through real estate ownership.

• Online real estate ownership represents the most encouraging alternative to increasing the purchase of real estate in Turkey, but this system needs to be further modernized to achieve greater reassurance for foreign buyers.

• There is still a bet on improving Turkish-Saudi relations to achieve more real estate sales for Saudis in Turkey, who two years ago represented the largest share of real estate owners in Turkey in terms of real estate areas.

• Also, one of the signs that determine the possibility of a better future for real estate ownership in Turkey is the increased availability of the Corona vaccine in Turkey, the more Turkey makes progress in terms of absorbing the Corona crisis and limiting its damage, the more this will reflect positively on real estate ownership in the country.

• Also, real estate laws in Turkey need more flexibility, especially towards the ownership of Syrians in Turkey, who are considered a difficult number in Turkey.

• At the conclusion of our talk about the future of real estate ownership in Turkey, it must be emphasized that modern residential complexes have a prominent role in increasing foreign demand for real estate ownership in Turkey, especially Arab families.

In general, it is not possible to talk about the real estate market in Turkey, but at the same time the illusory optimism in the return of real estate sales to its previous era is an approach far from reality,

Rather, the truest talk is that the real estate sector maintains its representation as the "safest portfolio of funds" in times of crisis, and is witnessing a gradual and tangible rise, albeit slowly during the current period. 

In any case, we cannot logically compare real estate sales in Turkey this year and the year before, until we reach the April 2021 statistic. Then you can confirm officially, in terms of numbers and statistics, the correctness of Fanar Realty’s expectations of the gradual rise of real estate sales in Turkey to foreigners.

Fanar Realty helps foreigners to own property in Turkey

Always... Fanar Realty is with you. 

We have updated the systems for dealing with customers, and we have relied on online real estate ownership, in addition to direct real estate ownership, while providing all legal guarantees to our valued customers. In Fanar Realty, we also maintained our credibility in dealing with the real estate situation during the past year, and with this credibility we achieved great convergence between Arabs wishing to own real estate in Turkey, and their aspirations and the most suitable real estate offers for them. We still offer the best real estate offers in Istanbul, along with our finest real estate services, to your satisfaction and to have a distinctive real estate ownership experience. 

See: Istanbul Real Estate

God willing, we have regular monthly meetings to find out the latest real estate statistics that bring you closer to the reality of the real estate market in Turkey and put you in the form of real estate numbers and statistics, and we continue to extend our hand to you to be of assistance to you to buy your dream home in Istanbul.

Source: National Statistical Institute of Turkey

Editing: Fanar Realty