Gulf buyers make Turkey top choice as property market thrives
- Number of Turkish exhibitors at Cityscape Global in Dubai doubles in 1 year
- Foreign buyers in Turkey increase by 15.2% in August 2015 vs 2014
- Iraqis top nationality buying in Turkey, followed by Saudi Arabians and Kuwaitis (Turkstat)
This year’s Cityscape Global, the world’s largest exhibition to promote property development to the Gulf market, was held in Dubai to great success. Placing international property investment at the fore, one nation making firm use of the opportunity to increase its standing within the region was Turkey, with over 50 exhibitors, double that of last year’s figure.
The Turkish market has witnessed a rapid expansion in recent times, with the most recent statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) revealing a 6.5% increase in house sales in August 2015, compared to the same period in 2014.
In August overseas buyers made up a growing number purchasing property in Turkey, with foreign buyers increasing by 15.2% year-on-year. And as indicated by the Turkish presence at the recent Cityscape Global, the top nations today buying from outside of Turkey are from Gulf States.
Adil Yaman, Director of Universal21 explains more,
“The annual Cityscape Global exhibition, held this year at the Dubai World Trade Centre, provides an important focal point for UAE and Gulf investors to investigate emerging opportunities within the international property market. This month’s exhibition highlighted the interest in the Turkish market from such investors and this is also something we have noticed.
“Whilst buyers from Gulf States have long been the top nationality purchasing properties within our Istanbul projects, there has been a noticeable uplift in enquiry levels in recent months from such buyers. With a focus on newly built projects that offer a good mix of properties and onsite facilities, there certainly seems to be a trend towards the upmarket district of Beylikdüzü and schemes that offer a rent guarantee, maximising the ROI for purchasers.”
This trend being noticed by Universal21 is certainly being reflected in official statistics too. Turkstat has revealed that in August, Iraqis were the most prevalent nationality buying in Turkey, accounting for 19.6% of foreign property sales, followed by Saudi Arabian buyers with 13.3% and purchasers from Kuwait taking 11.1% of foreign home sales in the country.
And the trend is looking set to continue with rising numbers of Arab visitors arriving in Turkey’s major tourist destination of Istanbul in 2015. Recent data released by the Istanbul Culture and Tourism Directorate has revealed that the number of Arab tourists has near-on doubled since 2010, taking the tourist share to nearly 20% today and rising. In relation to this, private residential buyers from the Middle East are also increasing their hold in the property market, with the growing tourist interest being reflected in the expanding second-home market.
Diana Doğan, CBRE Turkey’s Head of Research explains,
“In the second-home holiday market, there has been a significant increase in private investors in the residential sector from the Middle East with activity firmly focused in the country’s northwest, particularly the Marmara Sea and Black Sea regions, as well as Istanbul, Bursa, and Yalova.”
One project that is witnessing particular attention from the Gulf market, on both the holiday home and investment side, is Diamond Residence from Universal21. Located in a quiet, relaxed area of Old Beylikdüzü, the upmarket district of Istanbul, Diamond Residence is well situated to be close to Ataturk airport, the beach and a wide range of shops and restaurants.
Comprised of 148 beautifully designed apartments, with both one and two bedroom apartments available, Diamond Residence also boasts an array of excellent facilities. These include 24 hour security, a Vitamin Bar, fitness centre, indoor swimming pool, children’s games room and cinema room. One bed apartments are priced from £57,000 / €78,000 and two bed apartments from £98,000 / €132,000.
For more information about Universal21, visit www.universal21.com or call 0203 287 8700.