In January 2022, residential property sales to foreign buyers in Turkey increased by 56.5% year on year to 4,186 units.

What happened? According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), home sales in Turkey to foreigners soared 56.5% to 4,186 units in January 2022. The share of foreign transactions in the total number of housing sales in Turkey amounted to 4.7%.

Regions. The largest city in Turkey, Istanbul, was the leader in the number of transactions with foreigners (1,771). The second place was taken by the Mediterranean province of Antalya (914), and the third – Ankara (269).

Nationalities. Most housing in Turkey in January was purchased by Iranians (761 objects). They are followed by Iraqis (513) and Russians (479).

General numbers. Residential property sales in Turkey as a whole (including deals with locals) rose 25.1% year on year to 88,306 units in January. Most properties were sold in Istanbul (17.1%), followed by Ankara (9.3%) and Izmir (6.2%).

What else? The head of the International Association for Real Estate Promotion (GIGDER) has proposed that the commission charged by real estate agencies when selling property to foreigners be set at 7% in line with international standards.

“There are no rules or regulations in Turkey on this matter,” he said, complaining that some agencies require commissions of 30%. The expert added that GIGDER submitted a draft of the relevant resolution to the Ministry of Trade.

The project includes proposals such as licensing real estate agencies to sell properties to foreigners and a 7% commission that will be charged to buyers rather than sellers.