Turkish residential property sales surge in January

Residential property sales in Turkey surged 55.8 percent year-on-year in January, the country's statistical authority reported on Feb. 14.

A total of 113,615 houses changed hands last month, up from 72,937 the previous year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said.

Housing sales to foreign buyers also rose significantly during the same period, up 23.3 percent to 3,907 units.

Istanbul, the country's largest city by population, enjoyed the lion's share of sales to foreign buyers, with 48 percent (or 1,875 units).

The Mediterranean holiday resort city of Antalya followed with 762 properties, while the capital Ankara came third with 235.

January data showed that Iraqi citizens made up the largest group of foreign sales according to nationality, as they bought 739 houses in Turkey.

They were followed by Iranians with 678 house sales, Russians with 254, Afghans with 204, and Yemenis with 142.