Sabah – Foreign investments in the Turkish real estate sector have more than doubled in the first half of 2013, reaching 7,145 purchases up from 3,107 from a year earlier. The number of property-acquiring nationalities has also risen as the number of originating countries of the foreign realty buyers increased to 88 from 55 compared to the first half of 2012.
During the January- June period of 2013, a total of 7761 foreign nationals bought 7145 immovables, comprising 916 parcels of land and 6229 housing units, according to data from the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning.
Of the foreign property acquirers, Russians ranked first with a total of 1,388 acquisitions, followed by Britons with 720 and Germans with 653. Citizens of Gulf countries, who were barred from acquiring properties in Türkiye because of the reciprocity principle in the country’s property law up until last year, acquired a total of 1040 real estates in the first half of 2013.
The easing of the law governing property purchases in Türkiye by foreign nationals opened up Türkiye’s booming real estate market to investors from Russia, the Arab world, and Southeast Asia. The country also grants residency permits to foreigners who acquire property.
The purchases of Turkish real estate by foreigners reached a total of USD 2.6 billion in 2012, a rise of 31 percent from the preceding year. Reaching USD 720 million by the first quarter, the country aims to sell USD 3 billion worth of property to foreign investors this year.