Foreigners buy over 22,000 properties in Turkey in 2015

ANKARA

A total of 22,830 properties were sold to foreigners in 2015, representing a 20.4 percent increase from the previous year, according to fresh data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK). 

The largest number of houses was bought by Iraqis at 4,228 units in 2015, followed by Saudi Arabians at 2,704 units. Kuwaitis bought a total of 2,130 properties, Russians 2,036 units and Brits 1,054 units, said TÜİK in a written statement on Jan. 22. 

Istanbul was the most popular spot for foreign property buyers as a total of 7,493 units were sold to foreigners in 2015. Istanbul was followed by the Mediterranean resort of Antalya at 6,072 units and the northwestern province of Bursa at 1,501 units, according to TÜİK data. 

Total property sales in the country were up 10.6 percent from 2014, to around 1.3 million units. Around 240,000 units were sold in Istanbul and 146,537 units in the capital Ankara, the official data showed. The least number of properties were sold in the eastern province of Hakkari at 139 units in 2015.