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dpa
Istanbul
Turkish house sales to foreigners increased by almost 50 per cent in November compared to a year ago as buyers seek to profit on cheaper apartments, official data showed on Tuesday.
Of the 7,363 homes sold to foreigners in November, Iranians bought the highest number, followed by Iraqis, Russians and Germans, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat).
In the first 11 months of 2021, foreigners bought more than 50,000 apartments in Turkey, a year-on-year rise of nearly 40 per cent.
Istanbul was the most popular destination, followed by the Mediterranean resort town of Antalya and capital Ankara.
The lira has lost more than half its value against the US dollar over the past year. It is currently trading at around 14 to the dollar.
Analysts fear the lira could lose further ground due to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s push for lower interest rates to boost loans and exports.
TurkStat data showed locals also increasingly bought houses as the official inflation figure topped 20 per cent.
House sales in November this year surged by 59 per cent, compared to the same month last year.
The average price per 100-square-metre apartment in Istanbul in 2021 was 630,000 liras (43,867 dollars), according to real estate website Zingat.
The lira’s free-fall has been attracting foreign buyers, particularly from neighbouring countries, not only to the housing market but for everyday shopping.
Tourists from Bulgaria are flocking to Turkey’s border town of Edirne to shop, dine and travel, according to local media.
Hotels in Edirne are fully occupied ahead of New Year’s Eve, private news agency Demiroren reported on Monday, sharing images of tourists loading their cars and tour buses carrying bags of shopping.
But for many Turks, life is becoming more and more expensive and miserable. The opposition claims the consumer prices are more than double the official inflation figures.
Local media have been showing people, including in Istanbul, lining up in long queues to be able to buy relatively cheape bread from municipality booths.
On Monday, three independent YouTube journalists, known for their interviews with locals about economic troubles, were put under house arrest and slapped with travel bans.
Local media, including Cumhuriyet daily, said the decision followed a complaint from a senior official from Erdogan’s ruling party.
Erdogan over the weekend charged that social media was “the main threat to democracy.” “We are in the middle of the worst [economic] crisis in our recent history,” former economy minister and head of the opposition party Deva, Ali Babacan, warned on Tuesday.
Turkey has become an “all-for-one-lira shop” for its neighbouring countries, he added.
Istanbul
Turkish house sales to foreigners increased by almost 50 per cent in November compared to a year ago as buyers seek to profit on cheaper apartments, official data showed on Tuesday.
Of the 7,363 homes sold to foreigners in November, Iranians bought the highest number, followed by Iraqis, Russians and Germans, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat).
In the first 11 months of 2021, foreigners bought more than 50,000 apartments in Turkey, a year-on-year rise of nearly 40 per cent.
Istanbul was the most popular destination, followed by the Mediterranean resort town of Antalya and capital Ankara.
The lira has lost more than half its value against the US dollar over the past year. It is currently trading at around 14 to the dollar.
Analysts fear the lira could lose further ground due to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s push for lower interest rates to boost loans and exports.
TurkStat data showed locals also increasingly bought houses as the official inflation figure topped 20 per cent.
House sales in November this year surged by 59 per cent, compared to the same month last year.
The average price per 100-square-metre apartment in Istanbul in 2021 was 630,000 liras (43,867 dollars), according to real estate website Zingat.
The lira’s free-fall has been attracting foreign buyers, particularly from neighbouring countries, not only to the housing market but for everyday shopping.
Tourists from Bulgaria are flocking to Turkey’s border town of Edirne to shop, dine and travel, according to local media.
Hotels in Edirne are fully occupied ahead of New Year’s Eve, private news agency Demiroren reported on Monday, sharing images of tourists loading their cars and tour buses carrying bags of shopping.
But for many Turks, life is becoming more and more expensive and miserable. The opposition claims the consumer prices are more than double the official inflation figures.
Local media have been showing people, including in Istanbul, lining up in long queues to be able to buy relatively cheape bread from municipality booths.
On Monday, three independent YouTube journalists, known for their interviews with locals about economic troubles, were put under house arrest and slapped with travel bans.
Local media, including Cumhuriyet daily, said the decision followed a complaint from a senior official from Erdogan’s ruling party.
Erdogan over the weekend charged that social media was “the main threat to democracy.” “We are in the middle of the worst [economic] crisis in our recent history,” former economy minister and head of the opposition party Deva, Ali Babacan, warned on Tuesday.
Turkey has become an “all-for-one-lira shop” for its neighbouring countries, he added.
