Despite pandemic, foreign property sales in Turkey reach $7bn

Despite pandemic conditions, foreign property buyers managed to buy up big this year in Turkey.

Real estate sales to foreigners are expected to hit $7 billion this year, due to an uptick in buyers.

Real Estate International Promotion Association representative Fatih Erguven told Anadolu Agency that over the last decade, the association had been working hard to promote real estate to foreign markets.

In 2013, the market stepped up due to the scrapping of the reciprocity law, which prevented citizens of countries without a reciprocal buying agreement with Turkey from purchasing property. 

Despite a lower number of units sold during the pandemic, the $7bn figure was a significant one, Erguven said. "Despite the pandemic, some 26,000 units were sold to foreigners during the January-September period this year.

While October figures have not yet been released, the data looked promising, he added. "We think the figure will be around 6,000 units. We can easily pass 35,000 and reach even 40,000 over the course of the year."

Property Turkey director Cameron Deggin said demand in his offices across Turkey during the global lockdown had taken him by surprise.

"We fielded so many enquiries," Deggin said. "And some from relatively new markets, like the USA."

Deggin believes the pandemic had prompted people to reassess their priorities. "For some that means a lifestyle change, and for some it meant changing the way they invested."

A high proportion of new clients asked about Turkey's citizenship by investment programme, which allows buyers who spend $250,000 on property to gain citizenship in Turkey, Deggin said.