House sales continue to decline

A total of 123,491 houses changed hands in Türkiye in August, marking a 12.7 percent decline from a year ago that followed the 12.9 percent year-on-year decline in sales in July.

Most of the property sales took place in Istanbul, the country's largest city. Some 18,500 houses were sold in the metropolis in August. Ankara ranked second with a 7.9 percent share, or 9,000 units, in total sales, followed by İzmir at 5.2 percent, or 6,400.

Mortgage-financed sales, which accounted for 18 percent of all home sales, fell by 19 percent on an annual basis last month, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed on Sept. 15.

In the first eight months of 2022, home sales exhibited an increase of 17.7 percent compared with the same period of 2021 to 943,791.

Mortgage-financed sales were up 39.1 percent year-on-year to around 212,000 units.

House sales to foreigners also plunged 10.1 percent in August to 5,273 from a year ago, TÜİK said.

Russians were the biggest buyers. They purchased 1,238 houses in Türkiye last month. Iranians claimed the second spot at 633, followed by Iraqis, who bought 417 homes in Türkiye. Germans and Kazakh nationals ranked fourth and fifth on the list, respectively.

Ukrainians, who have been moving to Türkiye after the war broke out, also bought 219 houses.

Antalya was the most favorite place among foreign homebuyers. They purchased more than 1,800 houses in the popular holiday destination on the Mediterranean coast. In Istanbul, sales to foreign nationals amounted to 1,750 units, and they also bought 317 homes in the southern province of Mersin.

From January to August, home sales to foreign nationals increased by 44.6 percent from a year ago to 44,595.

Economy,