Alanya lands lure foreigners

ALANYA / ANTALYA - Doğan News Agency

Houses and hotels are seen behind the historic Alanya castle. In 2.5 months there have been over 600 applications from foreigners to buy property in the seaside town.

Some 30 foreigners per day are buying property in the seaside town of Alanya in southern Turkey, making Alanya the most sought-after location for foreign real estate purchases. Since May, 600 foreigners have applied for property deeds in the province and will receive the deeds within one month.

Since the Turkish government passed a new regulation making it easier for foreigners to purchase property in Turkey, there has been a 60 percent boom in the purchase of real estate deeds in Alanya
and the Alanya Deed Headquarters is processing about 30 deeds per day for foreigners, according to Doğan news agency.

Alanya Deed Headquarters Manager Çetin Özdemir told Doğan that with the new regulation, the number of countries’ citizens allowed to purchase real estate in Turkey shot up from 60 to 180, leading to the 60 percent increase in property sales to foreigners.

600 applications
“In 2.5 months we have accumulated close to 600 applications. ... We have been writing back and forth with the Aegean Military Command to ascertain whether the real estate in question is part of the military security zone and have updated our files according. We have thus begun processing the applications. We expect the number of applications to go up in the coming days,” said Özdemir.

Özdemir also reiterated that foreigners can only purchase up to 30 hectares of land per person.
“Those who purchase vacant lots must submit a project plan in two years. If they fail to do so, the property will be confiscated,” he said.

Foreign purchases of property in Alanya comprise one-fourth of all the foreign real estate purchases in Turkey, according to Alanya Real Estate Commissioners Association (ALEKOD) President Kerim Balıktay, who added that there are more than 20,000 finished properties both in terms of infrastructure and landscape in Alanya.

Foreign nationals who own property in Alanya are from the following countries: Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, England, the Russian Federation, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Ukraine, Norway, Turkish Cyprus, the United States, France, Poland, Switzerland, Australia, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Georgia, Slovenia, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Iran, Portugal, Moldova, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Greece, Canada, Spain, Iran, Portugal, Moldova, Macedonia, Iceland, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Japan, Bosnia, Kyrgyzstan, Brazil, Morocco and the Norfolk Islands.