Home prices decline 15 percent in real terms: Data

ANKARA

The annual increase in the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) continued to slow in May, easing to 45 percent from 48.4 percent in the previous month.

In real terms, however, the RPPI declined by 14.9 percent, the Central Bank said.

The monthly increase in the index also slowed from 2.2 percent in April to 1.3 percent in May.

The unit price was 33,460 Turkish Liras per square meter as of May, according to data from the bank.

In Istanbul, home prices increased by 35.3 percent year-on-year in nominal terms to 47,299 liras/square meter, while in the capital Ankara, the increase was 53.9 percent to 26,930 liras.

In İzmir, the country’s third largest city, the annual increase was 44.2 percent to 38,874 liras.

The RPPI for new dwellings rose 48.8 percent in nominal terms, said the bank.

The annual increase in RPPI for existing dwellings was 45.4 percent in May.

Elevated home prices and problems with accessing home loans have been long blamed for poor sales numbers in the local housing market.

The latest data from Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed that the decline in home sales continued in June.

Home sales fell by 5.2 percent to 79,313 units last month, with mortgaged home sales plunging 49 percent from a year ago.

The monthly interest rate on housing loans is above 4 percent, which impacts mortgage home sales. The share of mortgaged home sales in total sales was only 8.6 percent in June.