Real estate sales in Turkey - August 2020

Corona’s restrictions on the economic sectors in Turkey are gradually disappearing, marking the beginning of the recovery of the most important of these sectors, which is the sale of real estate to foreigners in Turkey.

 Where it witnessed a decline in the past months due to the measures to combat the Coronavirus, which prevented the foreign customer from visiting Turkey, but now that flights have begun to return gradually to and from Turkey, and the start of the summer 2020 tourist season, the recovery that we used to sell real estate to foreigners in Turkey has returned.

Fanar Realty has monitored for you with accurate numbers and statistics the volume of real estate sales in Turkey to foreigners during the month of August of 2020, with expectations from within the real estate market in Turkey about the volume of real estate ownership expected until the end of this year, and the incentives for real estate investment in Turkey

Good follow-up, we wish you

About 4,000 properties were sold to foreigners in Turkey 

For the first time since the beginning of the measures to combat the Coronavirus in Turkey in March 2020, real estate sales achieved a remarkable increase not only at the level of this year but even compared to August of the last year 2019. 

The Title deed Department in Turkey recorded the sale of 3,932 properties to residents of foreign nationalities, and the entire ownership of these properties was transferred to them, achieving progress of 7.4%, as the number of real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey in August 2020 amounted to about 3,641

The number of real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey 

since the beginning of 2020 has reached about 21,117 properties, meaning that 18.6% of the properties sold to foreigners were sold last August, and it is noteworthy that August's share of total real estate sales last year amounted to only 12.9%. That is, the August share increased compared to 2019 and 2020 by about 5.7%, 

and we should not forget that many foreign countries that were pioneers in buying real estate in Turkey did not start operating flights to Turkey, and in the event of the return of flights, real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey are expected to increase even more. Many of the statistics mentioned, and this is what we expect for the next month,

 In a later paragraph, we will discuss real estate sales forecasts for the remaining four months of 2020

Most foreign nationalities owning real estate in Turkey 

According to the statistics of the National Institute of Statistics in Turkey, the number of real estate sales for the most nationalities owning real estate in Turkey during this month was monitored as follows:

You can also see the statistics of real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey during the past eight months, through the following table:

Arabs' share of real estate ownership in Turkey

The total number of Turkish real estate sales during August 2020 to buyers of Arab nationalities amounted to about 1164, according to official statistics, in which the nationalities whose total purchase of fewer than 50 properties during this month were not counted, and Syrians with foreign nationalities are not counted among the lists of Arabs, in addition to Not counting the Arabs who bought real estate by buying companies in Turkey. Therefore, the real number of real estate sales to Arabs in Turkey may exceed the threshold of 2000 properties during this month, i.e. an average of more than 65 properties per day. We will compare the real estate sales of the most important Arab nationalities between August of 2019 and 2020:

Here are some notes on real estate sales in Turkey for Arabs:

• Real estate sales to Arabs in Turkey during this month represent 6% of the total real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey, and the Iraqis alone are 15% of the total real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey, and 50.8% of the total real estate sales to Arabs in Turkey.

• The Arab countries that achieved a clear increase in the purchase of the real estate by their citizens in Turkey are Lebanon and Qatar, while the Palestinians and Egyptians maintained a close number of properties they bought compared to August of 2019 and 2020.

• Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Oman, and Libya were absent from the list of the countries that buy the most real estate in Turkey for reasons related only to the procedures for stopping flights from these countries, and it is expected that they will register during the next two months a remarkable presence.

• Most of the purchases of real estate in Turkey during this month were made by people residing in Turkey and were motivated by housing and stability, or to ensure obtaining real estate residence in Turkey with advantages that are superior to the tourist residence that foreigners used to possess in Turkey.

Most Turkish states that foreigners prefer to own

Most of the real estate sales in Turkey to foreigners were for the vital cities with an investment nature, especially Istanbul, Antalya, and Ankara, but Istanbul received the largest proportion of these sales, which amounted to about 41.9% of the total real estate sales to foreigners in all Turkish states:

In this table, we have prepared for you a list of the most important Turkish states that foreigners visit to own real estate, and the number of real estate sales in them during August 2020:

The reasons for Istanbul’s superiority over the rest of the Turkish states in terms of its attractiveness to real estate buyers can be summarized as follows:

• Istanbul is a big city with ideal opportunities for life, work, study, and everything needed for the stability of a foreign family

• The presence of a very large percentage of Arabs in Istanbul, which provides comfort and reassurance for Arab families to reside

• Istanbul real estate projects and complexes are very distinctive and modern

• Istanbul real estate is superior to the real estate of Europe with its features and services, and it is also characterized by the fact that its prices are much lower than the prices of European real estate

• Istanbul real estate has beautiful and amazing sea views, especially for its presence on the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Marmara, in addition to the Bosphorus view and views of the Buyukcekmece and Kucukcekmece lakes, and foreigners generally prefer this type of views for housing.

Real estate market forecasts in Turkey

The real estate market in Turkey is a promising market, and the need for housing and work in Turkey is two unstoppable needs, due to the increase in the number of its population and foreign residents, whose number is increasing dramatically,

In addition to the tourism activity, and all these combined reasons contribute to an increase in people to buy real estate in Turkey, whether for housing or investment, in addition to the desire of foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship in exchange for buying a property in Turkey, if the price of the property achieves the minimum candidate for Turkish citizenship (250 thousand dollars). 

Even for those who do not have the ability to own real estate to obtain Turkish citizenship, the desire to obtain real estate residence in Turkey pushes foreigners to seriously consider owning real estate in Turkey and obtaining a more stable residence than a tourist residence. 

The most important reason for our expectation of a strong return to the real estate market recovery in Turkey is the decrease in measures to combat the Coronavirus "Covid 19" in Turkey. 

So we are on a date with promising months, and ideal opportunities to own real estate in Turkey,

Foreign investors will race to win the opportunity to own an apartment, office, or villa in Turkey and enjoy the advantages of owning real estate in this distinguished country, which millions of people dream of residing in.

Statistics source: National Statistical Institute of Turkey - Turkstat