Decline in home sales continued in October

ANKARA

The downward trend in the residential property markets continued in October, with sales plunging 8.7 percent from a year ago to around 94,000, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

In the previous month, 103,000 homes changed hands, and sales were down 9.5 percent year-on-year.

Mortgaged sales plunged 58 percent last month compared with October 2022 to around 5,600 units, accounting for only 5.6 percent of all residential property sales.

Istanbul was once again the hottest property market, taking the lead with 15,000 home sales. The capital Ankara ranked second at 7,400 sales, followed by İzmir, the country’s third largest city, at 5,200.

TÜİK also reported that home sales to foreign nationals nosedived 53 percent in October from a year ago.

Foreigners bought a total of 2,535 properties in Türkiye last month, corresponding to 2.7 percent of all home sales in the country.

Foreign nationals purchased 931 homes in the popular holiday destination Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, which witnessed an influx of people from Russia and Ukraine after the war broke out. From January to June, more than 1,000 homes were sold to foreigners in the city, but sales slowed afterward.

Russians comprised the largest group of foreign homebuyers. They bought 713 residential properties in October and 9,400 homes in the first 10 months of 2023.

Iranians came second at 235, followed by Germans and Ukrainians at 152, and 138, respectively.

From January to October, 30,599 homes were sold to foreign nationals, 3.1 percent of all sales in Türkiye. In 2022, foreigners bought nearly 68,000 homes in the country.

Total home sales declined by 14.3 percent in the January-October period from a year ago to 993,835.

 Confidence improves

TÜİK reported earlier this month that confidence in the construction sector increased 0.9 percent in September, down from a 1 percent month-on-month rise recorded in August.

The index of activity in the past three months fell 0.5 percent after increasing 2.3 percent. However, the gauge of current orders inched up 0.2 percent against the 1.9 decline in August.

The index for sales price expectations over the next three months continued to fall, dropping 1.6 percent in September, which followed the 0.7 percent decline in August.

Turnover in the construction industry leaped 91 percent in September from a year ago, separate data from TÜİK showed earlier this month. On a monthly basis, the increase was 3.2 percent.