Falling interest rates in Turkey have sparked a flurry of house sales in Turkey. Mortgage house sales in Turkey were up by more than 50 percent last month, driven by falling interest rates.
House sales data released by Turkstat show that mortgage house sales accounted for 38.9 percent of the total property sales made in Turkey in February. This follows the Central Bank of Turkey lowering its policy rate in January and February from 8.25 percent at the beginning of the year, to 7.5 percent.
Propertyturkey.com director Cameron Deggin says the lower interest rates are creating a healthy domestic market. “Buyers can lock in favourable rates, which is opening the property market up to local buyers, particularly first-time buyers. This is very good news for the economy as domestic property demand helps maintain stable growth.”
Istanbul maintains top spot
Istanbul kept the top spot, with almost 19 percent of sales conducted in Turkey’s largest city.
Favourable investment conditions in Istanbul are partly driving property demand. In Istanbul’s suburbs,
a one-bedroom property can be bought for around 50,000 Euros, and commands rents of around 300 Euros a month. This is a yield of around 7 percent, a very favourable prospect to investors even before capital growth is considered. This phenomenon has allowed Istanbul to maintain its status as the number one investment and property location in the country.
Resale boom
Resale property sales more than tripled, standing at 22.1 percent of property transactions and 54,359 units over the same period last year. New house sales accounted for 40,662 units.
Due to poor economic conditions in Russia, the number of property sales by Russian buyers has spiked, particularly
property in Antalya, which has always been popular with Russians.
Foreign buyers
The number of
Turkish properties sold to foreign buyers rose to 1369 units in February, compared to 1,071 in the previous month. Of these, 466 were sold in Istanbul, followed by 356 in Antalya.
Total February property sales throughout the country rose by 15 percent to 95,000. Istanbul sales accounted for 18.6 percent of the transactions.
Home sales in Turkey have been rising steadily over the last few years, increasing from 701,621 in 2012 to over a million last year.