House sales in Türkiye bounce to hit year-to-date peak
Housing in Türkiye rebounded in July, with sales reaching the highest level this year, according to official data on Tuesday, despite elevated mortgage rates and high prices plaguing the industry.
Sales rose to 127,088 homes, up 16% from a year ago, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) report. That compared to 109,548 units that exchanged hands in the same month a year ago.
The Turkish housing market has been mired in a slump since the central bank launched aggressive monetary tightening in the second half of last year to curb stubborn inflation that has plagued households.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) has gradually hiked its benchmark policy rate by 4,150 basis points since June last year.
It has kept the rate unchanged at 50% since March to allow the tightening to have an impact. Annual inflation eased to 61.78% in July, accelerating what is expected to be a sustained slide.
Rate hikes typically lift borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
Mortgaged house sales fell 20.9% year-over-year to 11,496 in July and accounted for a 9% share of all sales, the TurkStat data showed.
Sales to foreign buyers dove by 16.1% to 2,350 units in the same period.
The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya enjoyed the lion’s share of sales to foreign buyers, with 878 units.
Istanbul, Türkiye’s largest city in terms of population, followed with 752 properties, while the southern province of Mersin came third with 218.
Among foreign nationals, Russians bought the most houses (485), followed by Ukrainians (171) and Germans (162).
Many Russians have sought a financial haven after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions.
From January through June, some 672,162 residential properties were sold, a slight rise of 0.5% compared to the prior year.
Sales to foreigners in the first seven months of the year plunged 42% at an annualized pace to 12,811, according to TurkStat data.
Home sales declined 17.5% in 2023 to a nine-year low of 1.23 million amid tightening conditions, elevated housing loan rates, and a shift toward alternative investment avenues offering higher returns.
Purchases by foreigners fell 48.1% to 35,005 units. That is attributed to the fact that the minimum investment amount required for foreigners to obtain citizenship through real estate purchases was lifted to $400,000 last year from $250,000.
