Analysis Of Turkey’s Real Estate Market in July 2024

Key Provinces Leading the Market

The real estate market continues to be dominated by Türkiye’s largest cities. İstanbul led the way, recording the highest number of house sales at 19,047 units. This was followed by Ankara, which sold 11,364 houses, and Antalya, with 6,659 sales. On the other hand, smaller provinces like Ardahan (61 sales), Hakkari (64 sales), and Bayburt (77 sales) experienced significantly lower volumes, underlining the concentration of housing activity in metropolitan areas.

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Mortgaged House Sales See Decline

The mortgaged house sales sector experienced a steep drop. In July 2024, mortgaged sales plummeted by 20.9% compared to the same month in 2023, with only 11,496 houses sold via mortgage financing. This category accounted for a modest 9.0% of total house sales during the month. Over the January-July period, mortgaged house sales dropped even more drastically, by 53.8%, down to 62,911 homes. A significant share of these sales—14,962—were first-time sales, which hints at a cautious approach from buyers who may be avoiding mortgage commitments in an uncertain financial environment.

Surge in Other House Sales

While mortgaged house sales saw a downturn, non-mortgaged or “other” house sales experienced a robust growth of 21.7% year-over-year in July, with 115,592 units sold. This category dominated the market, accounting for 91.0% of all house sales. Over the first seven months of 2024, non-mortgaged house sales increased by 13.0%, reaching 609,251 units, indicating strong demand for housing, likely due to cash-based transactions or alternative financing methods.

First-Time and Second-Hand Sales

The dynamics between first-time and second-hand sales also showed interesting trends. First-time house sales surged by 28.9% in July 2024, totaling 40,784 units, and represented 32.1% of the overall market. In contrast, second-hand house sales increased by a more modest 10.8%, reaching 86,304 units, which made up 67.9% of the total market.

When looking at the broader January-July period, first-time sales posted a 5.6% year-over-year growth to reach 214,108 houses. On the other hand, second-hand sales dipped by 3.1%, totaling 458,054 houses, possibly reflecting buyers’ preference for new properties over existing ones.

House Sales to Foreigners Decline

One notable trend in July was the drop in house sales to foreigners, which fell by 16.1% year-over-year to 2,350 units, representing 1.8% of the total sales. Antalya led the sales to foreigners with 878 units, followed by İstanbul (752 sales) and Mersin (218 sales). Over the first seven months of 2024, house sales to foreigners saw a substantial decline of 42.0%, with 12,811 homes sold, a significant drop from the previous year.

Despite this downturn, Russian citizens remained the top foreign buyers, purchasing 485 homes in July. They were followed by buyers from Ukraine (171 homes) and Germany (162 homes). This reflects ongoing interest in Turkish real estate, particularly from Eastern European markets.

In July 2024, the highest number of house sales by nationality were made to Russian citizens. Totaling 485 units, significantly surpassing other nationalities. Ukrainian citizens followed with 171 house purchases, while German nationals accounted for 162 sales. Other notable contributors included Iran with 151 sales, Kazakhstan with 122, and Iraq with 118.

Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, China, and the United States made up the rest of the top ten, with 88, 69, 67, and 56 sales, respectively. This data highlights a strong interest in property acquisition from Russian buyers, with a noticeable gap between them and other nationalities.