40 Thousand Foreigners Bought Houses in Turkey in July 2022

While many see Turkey's economic situation as a crisis or recession due to rising prices and high inflation, foreign property buyers and investors are benefiting from the stagnation of the country's economy. The latest data shows that foreign buyers’ interest in Turkish real estate, with home sales to foreigners rising by 57.4% compared to the same period last year.

According to the latest housing sales statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, between January 2022 and July 2022, 39,000 322 houses were sold to foreigners, an increase of 57.4% compared to the same period last year. Data shows that foreign demand for Turkish real estate continues to grow.

Antalya has the highest number of foreign home sales in the first seven months of 2022. Although the main source of real estate demand for foreigners in Antalya is the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, there are also many buyers from other countries.

While the top-ranked Russian buyers according to data released in the first quarter of 2022 still top foreign home sales in Turkey, they are followed by Iranian and Iraqi buyers.

Russians are Interested

The political crisis that morphed into a Russian invasion of Ukraine in February as Russians tried to move their wealth to safe-haven Turkey boosted demand for Turkish real estate in Russia and Ukraine. One of the top choices for Ukrainians fleeing the war is Turkey.

Russians bought the most Turkish real estate in July with 1,028 homes, followed by Iranians with 431 and Iraqis with 380. The number of homes purchased by Russians in July 2021 was just 365 and is now more than triple the number in the same month this year. They also make up a larger share of overseas sales, with 6,877 of the 39,729 total sales in the January-July period.

Ukrainians also almost tripled their home purchases. While there were only 591 in the same period in 2021, there are now 1,352 between January and July 2022.

Antalya Has the Highest Overseas Sales

According to Turkey's home sales statistics for the period January 2022 to July 2022, 16,049 units were sold overseas in Istanbul and 11,257 units in Antalya. Mersin followed Istanbul and Antalya with 1,944 sales in the same period.

Although Antalya has long been in second place, the latest TUIK statistics show that Antalya led foreign home sales in July with 1,421 homes. Foreign home sales in Antalya in the same month of 2021 were only 931 units. In July, Antalya was followed by Istanbul with 1,154 sales and Mersin with 289 sales.

Total home sales between January and July this year were 93,902, accounting for 39,729 of sales to foreigners.

Property Prices in Turkey Are Rising

Despite the rise in overseas home sales, the total number of home sales in the Turkish real estate market is declining. Total sales in 2022 will be 93,902 units, up from 107,785 units sold in the same period in 2021.

Property prices have seen the strongest growth in southern Turkey, with an increase of 200.2% in June 2022 in Antalya and surrounding cities. It was followed by Istanbul with an increase of 184.9%. Despite the highest growth rate, prices in Antalya are still 15,781 liras per square metre higher than in Istanbul, which is 21,328 liras per square metre. Market experts say home sales are down due to inflation and rising market prices.

Ömer Faruk Akbal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Real Estate Promotion Association (GİGDER), said in an interview with Emsal.com; Akbal pointed out that foreign demand for Turkish real estate is the last reason for the increase in Turkish real estate prices. Akbar believes that the more realistic reason for the rise in property prices is the post-pandemic global economic crisis, which has also affected construction costs, global political instability and the aftermath of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, which culminated in a territorial war. In addition, Akbar Barr described the outcome of the war as a chain reaction, from its inception to the impact on global supply chains, economic sanctions, and internal and external migration.