Housing sales in Turkey increased by 14.9% in October compared to the same month last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). 137,401 houses were sold in October – Istanbul represented the highest share (19%) of sales, with 26,041 houses sold over the course of the month. After Istanbul, Ankara represented 9.8% of sales with 13,466 houses sold, and Izmir with 8,218 sales (a 6% share). The provinces with the lowest share of sales were Hakkari, Ardahan and Bayburt, with 22, 45, and 84 houses sold, respectively.
Overall housing sales decreased by 15.2% in the first ten months of the year compared to 2020, TurkStat said, totaling 1.08 million sales.
Mortgaged house sales across Turkey increased by 9.7% in October compared to the same month last year, totaling 28,049. The share of mortgaged sales in total house sales was 20.4%. Mortgaged house sales in the January-October period, however, decreased by 60.7% compared to the same period last year, totaling 209,904.
The number of first-hand house sales (41,914) in Turkey increased by 13.4% in October compared to the same month last year. The share of first-hand house sales in total house sales was 30.5%. In the ten-month period from January-October, first-hand house sales decreased by 16.9% compared to the same period in 2020. First-hand house sales totaled 329,070.
Housing sales to foreigners increased by 12.1% in October compared to the same month last year, totaling 5,893. The share of house sales to foreigners in total house sales was 4.3%. Istanbul had the highest number of house sales to foreigners (2,464), followed by Antalya (1,385) and Ankara (359).
In October, Iranian citizens bought 1,265 houses in Turkey. Iraqi citizens bought 926 houses, while Russian citizens purchased 543 houses.
