Coasts await foreign buyers

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Pedestrians pass by ads promoting Turkey as a destination at Popolo Square in the Italian capital of Rome. The Tourism Ministry has launched an vast ad campaign abroad. AA photo

With the approval of new legislation last week regulating the sale of Turkish land to foreigners, tourism centers like Alanya, Didim, Fethiye and Kuşadası have received more attention from prospective buyers, leading experts to predict a rise in property and housing prices as the demand increases. The new law will pave the way for foreign citizens from the Middle East, Gulf countries, the United States and the Far East to purchase real estate in Turkey, according to Anatolia and Doğan news agencies.

The law, which no longer requires reciprocity in terms of land ownership between countries, makes it much easier for foreign citizens to purchase land in Turkey without having previously signed a reciprocity agreement. Citizens of countries like Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Turkic Republics under the previous legislation were unable to purchase real estate in Turkey because their countries did not have reciprocity agreements with Turkey.

President of the Alanya Real Estate Commissioners’ Association Kerim Balıktay told Anatolia Alanya, a tourist destination on the Aegean coast, was the favorite among foreign buyers.

Citizens from 47 countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Russia live in Alanya he said.

“A lot of investors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were waiting for this regulation. Now they will start purchasing property. We have 20,000 properties in our stock,” said Balıktay, who noted that once the stockpile was depleted, this would open the way for new construction projects, which would both stimulate the economy and create employment.

Iranians march for Didim
President of the Didim Real Estate Agents Association Osman Coşkun also said that while citizens from countries like England, Germany and France had no problems acquiring property in Turkey due to their reciprocity agreements, this was not the case for other foreign nationals. In particular he stressed that in recent years Iranian citizens had shown interest in Didim, but were unable to purchase real estate due to the reciprocity clause. “We have a stock of 15,000 properties and after this regulation [passing] I believe that many of these will be sold, said Coşkun.

“In our region, real estate prices range from 50,000 Turkish Liras to 500,000 liras. With the increase in demand, I believe the [property] prices will also go up,” he said.