Iraqis top list of property-buying foreigners in Turkey

ANKARA

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A total of 2,027 properties in Turkey were sold to foreigners in July 2015, marking a 37.6 percent increase from the same month last year. Iraqis topped the list, buying a total of 362 properties, followed by Saudi Arabia citizens who bought 233, Russians who bought 195, Kuwaitis who bought 147, and British people who bought 101 properties, according to Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) data revealed on Aug. 24. 

Over the first seven months of the year, most properties were sold to Iraqis with a total of 2,031, followed by Saudi Arabians with 1,420, Russians with 1,289, and Kuwaitis with 1,200. A total of 12,475 properties were sold to foreigners in Turkey in the first seven months of 2015. 

The Mediterranean resort of Antalya was the province where the highest numbers of properties were sold to foreigners, with 686 sales in July 2015. Antalya was followed by Istanbul with 541 sales, the northwestern province of Yalova with 127 sales, and the Aegean province of Aydın with 119 sales, according to the TÜİK data. 

In Turkey, overall house sales increased by 13.5 percent in July 2015 compared to the same month last year, with a total of 96,589 houses. Istanbul had the highest share with 17.8 percent of property sales and 17,182 sold units, while the fewest properties were sold in the eastern provinces of Hakkari with 14 units, Ardahan with 16 units, and Şırnak with 33 units.

The number of mortgaged home sales throughout Turkey became 30,754, decreasing 0.5 percent compared to the same month of 2014. Home sales with mortgages had a 31.8 percent share in all property sales in Turkey in July 2015, according to the TÜİK data.