ANKARA

Turkey saw 142,810 house sales in October with an annual drop of 2.5%, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Monday.

"Istanbul had the highest share of house sales with 17.1% and 24,451 houses," TurkStat said in a statement.

The capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir followed Istanbul with 13,978 and 9,012 house sales, respectively.

"The least house sold provinces were Hakkari and Ardahan with 13 and 24 house sales, respectively," it added.

Some 50,181 houses were sold for the first time, falling 32.9% in October versus the same month last year, it said, adding that first house sales had 35.1% share of all house sales in Turkey.

Istanbul -- Turkey's largest city by population and a key tourist center -- took the largest share of the pie with 17.9% or 8,988 house sales.

Official data showed that the capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir racked up 3,683 and 2,967 total of housing sales, respectively.

Mortgaged house sales were recorded at 50,411, surging 525.1%, over the same period, making up a 35.3% share of all house sales in Turkey.

Sales to foreigners

Official data showed that property sales to foreigners dropped 31.9% year-on-year in October, reaching 4,272 units.

Istanbul led sales with 2,043 houses, followed by the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya with 912 and Ankara with 192.

Among foreigners, Iraqi nationals topped the list with 597 houses. They were followed by Iranians with 536 and Russians with 292 house sales.