Foreign demand spurs home sales

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The Istanbul skyline is dotted with sprawling residential complexes, as seen in this photo. Home sales in Istanbul rose 31.1 percent in the last quarter of 2011 and home sales were up 16.8 percent in the same quarter, according to TÜİK data. Hürriyet photo

More foreign nationals and firms generating prospects for strong demand and urban transformation projects are causing an increase in home sales in Istanbul, according to a monthly report issued by a construction association.

“The prospect of projects aiming to change the urban face of Istanbul, and [the fact] that Istanbul will be in great favor as the way is paved for foreign investment in local real properties have heated up the sector,” said the report, which was issued yesterday by the Association of Turkish Building Material Producers (İMSAD).

Home sales in Istanbul had been below the national average lately, but the last quarter of 2011 showed a different picture, the report said, citing data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showing increasing sales figures.

Home sales in Istanbul rose 31.1 percent in the last quarter of 2011 compared with the previous quarter, while the figure was 15.9 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, according to TÜİK’s latest data.

At the national level, home sales were up 16.8 percent in the last quarter of 2011 compared with the previous quarter, according to the data. The rate of increase hits 21.8 when compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. The number of residential sales rose to 118,867 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 97,517 registered in the last quarter of 2010.

The report said a sales number nearing 120,000 registered at the end of last quarter was the second-highest sales performance since the first quarter of 2008, when TÜİK started disclosing residential sales data. The second quarter of 2009 registered the highest home sales figure with 194,743.

Upward trend all over
The report said changes in home sales in other regions of Turkey were quite remarkable, showing an upward trend in home sales all over the country.

Turkey’s eastern and southeastern regions have registered significant home sales increases. The combined home sales increase in Erzurum, Erzincan and Bayburt provinces was about 30.8 percent, while the provinces of Ağrı, Kars, Iğdır and Ardahan registered a 24 percent rise in the last quarter of 2011.