ANKARA – Sales of residential properties in Turkey decreased by 34.1 percent year on year to 117,806 in November, recent data shows.
Sales fell by 14.8 percent from October to November.
Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city by population, had the highest share of 16.7 percent with 19,687 houses sold.
Real estate sales to foreigners also dropped by 17.4 percent to 6,083 properties in November compared to the same month of the previous year.
Russian citizens bought 2,575 houses in Turkey in November, followed by Iranians with 510 units, Iraqis with 331 and Ukraine with 277.
The Turkish government adopted the citizenship-for-homes scheme in 2017, asking for investment in properties worth at least 400,000 U.S. dollars by foreign nationals to obtain citizenship.
The depreciation in the Turkish currency has also made the country’s real estate more attractive to foreign investors.
Turkey has absorbed an influx of Russian citizens since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out on Feb. 24, triggering Russian interest in real estate in the country under the pressure of Western sanctions. ■
