Economy

Turkey sees over 550,000 housing sales in H1

Residential property sales slipped 11.5% year-on-year in January-June

Tuba Sahin  | 12.07.2021 - Update : 12.07.2021
Turkey sees over 550,000 housing sales in H1

ANKARA

Turkey saw 552,812 houses sold in the first half of 2021, the country's statistical authority said Monday.

The number of residential properties sold in the country fell 11.5% year-on-year in January-June, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

The institute noted that 167,878 new houses were sold across the country, while the rest were secondhand sales.

The mortgaged housing sales amounted to 104,168 – down 60.9% – with a 19% share of all sales in the first six months of this year.

Housing sales to foreigners also fell in the same period.

Some 20,488 houses were sold to foreigners in the first half, down 43.7% year-on-year.

Istanbul, the country's largest city by population, enjoyed the lion's share of those sales to foreigners, with 10,108 units, followed by the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya with 3,990 properties, and the capital Ankara with 1,276.

The data showed that Iranian citizens made up the largest group of foreign sales according to nationality, as they bought 3,070 houses in Turkey.

They were followed by Iraqis with 3,019 housing units sold, Russians with 1,759, Afghans with 1,277, and Kazakhs with 787 in the first six months of this year.

Commenting on the data, Ahmet Erkurtoglu, deputy head of the Contractors' Association of Istanbul's Anatolian side, said housing sales to foreigners hit the highest-ever first-half figure.

"This owes to the Turkish lira's weakness against other currencies and rising house values," he said.

He noted that growth in Turkish transportation projects and the convenience of the sea and air access spurred housing sales to foreigners.

Sales figures for June

A total of 134,731 houses changed hands in June, down 29.1% compared to the same month last year.

Housing sales to foreigners jumped 185.3% on an annual basis to reach 4,748 units this June.

Erkutoglu stressed Turkey saw a significant rise in sales to Germans and US nationals in the month, adding: "There is mobility in summer holiday destinations such as the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya." Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
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