Istanbul is a historical city that has been inhabited since ancient times for its strategic importance on the Bosphorus Strait. After World War II, the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923. Next year, 2023 the Treaty of Lausanne will be expired, and Turkey will have the right to explore for underground resources and benefit from the passage of ships through its sea straits.
What concerns us in today’s article is to talk about the last 70 years, as Istanbul developed during these years accidentally and almost randomly, so that the shape of the city today is as follows:
The dark red areas represent the high population density, while the yellow areas represent the low population density. We note that the areas with medium and high population density represent a transverse form, and this confirms the idea that the city expanded rapidly and accidentally.
Also, the industrial areas indicate that the expansion was rapid and accidental. As we see above, the area No. 1 represents the Topkapi area near Al-Fateh, which is the first industrial area, but with the expansion of the city and it is known that the factories should be far from the residential neighborhoods, the industrial area moved to be concentrated in Area 2, which is Basin Express, but with the rapid and accidental development of the Basin Express area, it has become a residential and commercial area that includes dozens of hotels. Therefore, when there is a need to expand the industrial areas, the Turkish state resorted to Area No. 3, which is Hademkoy area, about 45 km away from the center of Istanbul, and until today the expansion of industrial areas is being studied beyond Hademkoy area.
Even in the early stages of the last hundred years, there were factories in the center of Istanbul, such as Sisli and Beyoglu.
This rapid and random development, as we described a while ago, led to the formation of areas close to the center of Istanbul, but as follows:
Such as Kagithane area, north of Sisli and south of Maslak, it consists mostly of old buildings as shown in the above figure, and at the same time it is close to the modern towers in Sisli and Levent.
Hence, the Turkish government started the urban renewal project in the old buildings and started licensing the construction of new projects gradually instead of these old houses that occupy a special location near the center of Istanbul, but they are old and small. If a new project is established in their place, there will be several benefits:
- Get more space in multi-storey buildings instead of single houses.
- Offering a larger number of apartments close to the center of Istanbul.
- Renovation of the infrastructure that has become outdated in many of these neighborhoods.
- Providing opportunities for real estate investors wishing to acquire real estate close to the center at affordable prices.
What are the other urban renewal areas in Istanbul?
Since Istanbul in general has developed rapidly, many areas are suitable for urban renewal, and we mention the most important of them:
In general, they are the areas close to the center of Istanbul but bearing in mind that the areas very close to the Bosphorus, such as Besiktas, Beyoglu and Sisli in the European side of Istanbul, and Uskudar and Kadikoy in the Asian side of Istanbul, do not have many projects being built at the same time and in general the prices for the investment real estate starts from about $250.000.
As for the urban renewal areas that are witnessing a rapid renaissance, we can say that for the European part of Istanbul, we have Kagithane, Eyup, Gaziosmanpasa, Bayrampasa, Bagcilar, Gungoren and Zeytinburnu.
As for the Asian side of Istanbul, we have Atasehir, Umraniye, parts of Maltepe and Kartal.
Thus, we mentioned more than ten areas, which of them is the best for real estate investment?
If we talk about the specifications of the investment property and compare it with the areas above, we will realize which area is the best for real estate investment:
- The closer the property is to the center of Istanbul, the more important it is for investment, because the center of Istanbul includes tourist areas, business centers and major companies, and also includes a sophisticated lifestyle that a large number of locals or foreigners are keen to obtain, and therefore during all the past years, real estate prices in the center of Istanbul are constantly rising, and no matter how Istanbul expands to the west and east, the great importance of the center of Istanbul will remain and will even increase.
- The property you want to invest in must be distinct from the neighboring properties. For example, if we compare the two areas shown below, we will find the following:
The first picture is from Atasehir area, which is a reconstruction area, and we note from it that the number of modern projects close to each other is no less than 10, and therefore these properties are not distinguished from their neighborhoods. This does not mean that Atasehir area is not suitable for investment, but we took this example to clarify this point only.
The second picture is from Kagithane area of a modern project surrounded by buildings and old neighborhoods. At first sight, we will say immediately that this place is not beautiful and investing in a new building within this neighborhood is a waste of money, but if we see a section of Kagithane after the reconstruction is completed, we will immediately realize that the real estate price in this new building will double as soon as the urban renewal phase in the area ends.
Now that this point has become clear, we say that investing in an urban renewal area needs a study of the area’s past and future, and that only an old real estate consultant in the market will be able to do it correctly. Therefore, we advise investors wishing to obtain investment properties in urban renewal areas to obtain a free consultation by our company for the sensitive to this type of investment.
- That it has a demand from the local market, whether for rental with a high return or for resale later, and therefore we can conclude again that the demand for the areas near the center of Istanbul is higher and therefore the urban renewal areas near the center of Istanbul will be of greater importance, but we stress again that not all properties in an urban renewal area close to the center of Istanbul is suitable for investment, as its price may be more than it deserves, or it may have specifications that are not the most appropriate, so we are keen to provide a consultation based on our long experience in the market before directing the investor to this type of investment.
- To be within a residential complex that includes security services and entertainment, especially for children.
The large number of local residents residing in Istanbul came from other cities of Turkey, and at the same time Istanbul includes a large number of foreigners, so the investor must realize that the tenant who will reside in his property is very interested in the presence of a security and control system, as well as the presence of entertainment means for his children.
We are sometimes surprised by the request of some investors to obtain a property outside a residential complex to save the monthly maintenance expenses (which do not exceed $40) and the tenant is responsible for paying it, not the property owner, thus they miss the opportunity to obtain the high rental return that real estate within the residential complexes can offer.
Finally:
The real estate market is rapidly renewing in Istanbul, and therefore yesterday's opportunities differ from today's opportunities. If you want to obtain an investment property, contact us to learn about the best investment opportunities today.
