ISTANBUL

House sales rose by 17.3% in February on a yearly basis in Türkiye, the country's statistical authority said on Thursday.

Total house sales amounted to 93,902 units in the month, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

Istanbul had the lion's share in the month with 17.4% or 16,344 units in February, followed by the capital Ankara with 8,300 units and the Aegean province Izmir with 5,168 units.

During the January-February period, house sales dropped by 2% to some 174,210 units in the country.

In February, house sales to foreigners dropped by 44.9% to 1,846 units and by 48% to 3,907 in the two-month period of the current year.

Russian citizens purchased 395 homes in February, followed by Iranian citizens with 200 homes.