Rent prices soar as students flock back to cities

ISTANBUL

With students returning to the metropolitan city of Istanbul after spending a hefty amount of time in their hometowns due to the pandemic, apartment rental prices in the city are now on the rise.

The average rent increase is lingering around 26 percent throughout the country, while the difference reached 100 percent in some districts of Istanbul, especially in neighborhoods close to university campuses.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Nizameddin Aşa, the chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Realtors, noted that there was a serious increase in rental prices in Istanbul, but that this increase varies according to regions.

“In districts on the Anatolian side such as Kadıköy, Bostancı and Göztepe, there is an increase of 50 to 60 percent, or even more. You can’t find the house you found for 3,000 ($360) liras two years ago for less than 4,000 to 5,000 liras ($475 to $600) now,” Aşa said.

Stressing that urban transformation is another reason for the increase in rents, Aşa stated that new transformation projects were realized in two regions in Istanbul and that nearly 50,000 households started to look for places suddenly because of this.

“Some families and students who went to their hometown due to the pandemic have begun to return. Foreigners are also coming [to Turkey], and they have raised the market average,” Aşa said, adding that rents skyrocketed because of such developments.

Levent Küçük, the chairman of the Consumers’ Association (TÜDER), stated that the existing houses could not meet the needs as a result of the increase in the demand for housing with the incoming migration, adding that they received many complaints due to the rising rent prices.