Turkish house price index rises 11.3 pct in October

ANKARA

The house price index increased by 11.3 percent in October from a year earlier, data from the Central Bank showed on Dec. 18.

According to data, house prices increased by 6.14 percent on an annual basis in Istanbul, the country’s largest city while prices rose by 9.81 percent year-on-year the capital Ankara.

The Central Bank also said house price index for İzmir, Turkey’s third largest city, increased by 13.43 percent in October from a year earlier.

The headline new housing price index rose 8.94 percent in October compared to the same month of last year while the existing housing price index showed a 16.31 percent rise.

In October, the Hedonic House Price Index (HHPI) increased monthly by 0.63 percent, recorded an annual increase of 6.79 percent in nominal terms and decreased by 14.73 percent in real terms, the Central Bank also said.

The HHPI measures quality adjusted price changes by controlling the observable characteristics of the houses in Turkey.

In October, the HHPI decreased monthly by 0.39 percent in Istanbul and increased monthly by 0.15 and 1.82 percent in Ankara and İzmir respectively. Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir recorded an annual increase of 1.80, 3.26 and 10.30 percent respectively.

The latest GDP data showed that the country’s construction sector, which had long served as the engine of economic growth, contracted by 5.3 percent on an annual basis in the third quarter after expanding 6.7 percent and 1 percent in the first and second quarter of this year.