Whether you are an investor looking for the highest annual return or you want to search for an apartment or villa to live in Turkey, the statistics in this article and the ideas that we will talk about are very important to you.
The Turkish real estate market made it possible for foreigners to formally own properties in 2012 and since then, the number of real estates sold in Turkey to foreigners continues to increase until we reached the year 2018, where it represented the peak, especially in conjunction with the decision to grant Turkish citizenship to those who buy a property or group of real estate worth $ 250.000 and here the Turkish real estate market began to take a more directed trend, as the majority of customer interest has become to obtain real estate suitable for Turkish nationality, up to the year 2020, specifically in the month of March, when the Covid-19 virus began to spread, to clearly notice the decrease in the number of properties sold in Turkey to foreigners during the month 4, 5, 6 and 7, until we find again a rise in the curve within the month of August and finally the statistics of the last month, which is September 2020, we find that 5269 properties were sold in Turkey to foreigners, which is an increase of 20.7% over the year 2019, which means before Covid-19, and this is really amazing if we compare the growth of the Turkish real estate market with many of the commercial and investment sectors in the world after Covid-19, where a large proportion of money owners and investors tended to keep their money until the vision becomes clear regarding the Covid-19 vaccine and the US elections.
Notes about the Turkish real estate market 2019 and 2020:
- The most prominent characteristic of these two years is the entry of not hundreds, but thousands of real estate brokerage firms into this field, to begin with, most of them without deep experience providing consultations to clients in a manner that suits the interests of these companies regardless of the client’s interests and goal. Thousands of residential properties were sold as an investment, in addition to selling thousands of residential properties with specifications that do not suit the client and his current and future needs.
- The customers' reaction to the presence of thousands of real estate brokerage companies was natural, which is to compare prices to get the best offer, but what customers do not realize is that new real estate prices are set by construction companies, and therefore comparing prices between companies is just allowing the price to be manipulated and the customer deluded that he got the best price, and in fact, the only loser is the customer, so few of these new companies really deserve trust, and you can find the history of this company through its website, the head office of the company, and the depth of information and experience with its real estate consultants.
- The idea of buying property online is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it made it easier for the customer to obtain the right property for him while he was in his country without the need to travel, especially after the stresses in facing Covid-19, especially the presence of additional discounts in the Turkish real estate market during the past six months, and this is not price manipulation. But every company established a scheme to sell real estate on a monthly basis, and thus during the flight ban in the world, construction companies were forced to provide additional discounts, which prompted investors to buy real estate in Turkey at a time when global business sectors were in a complete stalemate.
But again companies with little experience and new reputation in the Turkish real estate market took advantage of the idea of buying online to sell the customer real estate in non-investment areas in case that he is an investor, and in areas that are not favorable to housing in case that he wants housing and sometimes real estate not suitable for Turkish nationality, despite the fact that the customer's primary goal is to obtain Turkish citizenship through real estate ownership.
- The law of obtaining Turkish citizenship through real estate ownership began in 2018, but as we all know that the majority prefer not to start first, and therefore most of the processes for obtaining Turkish citizenship took place in 2019 and 2020. It is worth noting that the vast majority of modern companies in the Turkish real estate market and even part of the old companies does not include a legal department specializing in Turkish citizenship, and this is what caused many problems for clients while they were seeking to obtain Turkish citizenship.
Now, going back to the numbers, and to answer the question that we are constantly facing, which is that the Turkish real estate market is a market reserved for foreigners, and therefore the prices are exaggerated, and it is purely to attract foreign investors. As for local buying and selling, they are few. We answer the following:
Looking at the chart below, which explains the processes of buying real estate in Turkey in general, both for foreigners and for the local market, we will find the following:
- In September 2020, total property sales in Turkey amounted to 136,744 properties, of which 5269 were only for foreigners and the rest was in the Turkish domestic market. It is a local market par excellence.
- Also, looking at the month of July 2020, we will find that total property sales in Turkey reached a record number, which is 229,357, of which only 2741 properties were sold to foreigners. As a percentage, we will find that the foreigners ’ share of the Turkish real estate market in July 2020 was only 1.195%, which is a very small percentage that cannot plan for it an entire sector of the most prominent sectors in Turkey, which is the real estate sector at unreal prices, in order to mislead foreign investors.
Since the numbers clearly answered this question, we will move on to a new idea which is resale or used properties and compare them with new properties.
Looking at the figure below, we note that in 2019 and 2020 the percentage of resale properties in Turkey is almost double the number of new properties sold for the first time, and in this regard, we have many observations that we must mention:
- The real estate sector, as we mentioned in Turkey, is one of the main sectors that affect the economy, and therefore a large number of buying and selling operations is a natural thing, especially for old real estate and reselling them again, which is a kind of profession for many Turkish investors and businessmen themselves.
- Resale properties that are still not inhabited constitute very distinct investment and residential opportunities. Contact our consulting team to help you find the best real estate opportunities outside the new residential complexes.
- Turkish businessmen and investors evaluate the profit based on their local currency, and therefore if someone bought a property 3 years ago with a value of one million Turkish liras, which was equivalent to approximately 210 thousand US dollars, and today he sold the property with a value of one million and 300 thousand Turkish liras (which today equals 162 thousand dollars), in his point of view, he made a profit of 30% within 3 years only, and therefore, in addition to the rental return, he achieved capital inflation of 10% for each year. This is true, but it is not suitable for the foreign investor who owns the foreign currency, which as we noted above that despite the high value of the property in relation to the Turkish lira. However, from the foreign currency perspective, the dollar lost its value by 22.85%, but is it reasonable that the Turkish citizen is not aware of this point? Of course, he is alert, but:
- The Turkish citizen gets loans from local banks in Turkish lira with an interest rate in Turkish lira and buys real estate under construction by means of the loan and makes instalments to banks in Turkish lira at a relatively low-interest rate and therefore this above process is really profitable for him and is not suitable for the foreign investor so we always advise the foreign investor to buy New real estate in order to obtain Turkish citizenship, which is easier, faster and more secure in order to obtain Turkish citizenship and on the other hand will have better specifications than resale properties, and after obtaining Turkish citizenship, all options become available if the foreign investor wants to buy a new or resold property.
- Remember that new properties are distinguished by the following:
- The title deed tax in it is paid equally between the seller and the buyer, and it is often 4% of the total property value, and sometimes some projects give a gift to the buyer and pay 4% in place of it, as for resale properties, the buyer will pay 4% in full according to the trader in the local market.
- There is no commission for the real estate brokerage company that is deducted from the buyer separately, as in the case of resale properties (if a commission is determined, it is often 3%, which is deducted from the buyer separately from the total property price in resale properties. As for new properties, the company gets Real estate brokerage on its commission from the construction company itself).
- Resale real estate with real estate valuation that is not identical to its price in the title deed in most cases, and therefore it is often not suitable for Turkish citizenship, especially if the investor's budget is close to 250 thousand dollars and not much higher.
- There are instalment options and flexibility even in paying the price in cash in several instalments. As for resale properties, the payment process is done once and with the full value of the property 100% without instalments or payments.
- New real estate within the projects includes many options in terms of view, area, kitchen style, etc. As for resale properties, there is only the option offered for sale and there is no flexibility in modifying anything. In addition, this option is offered for sale at any moment or a sudden increase in its price. Thus, in general, we advise the investor wishing to buy his first property to be in a new project, and after obtaining Turkish citizenship, we are with him to offer the best options available in the Turkish real estate market.
