House sales in Turkiye soar 20.6% in March

ISTANBUL

Residential property sales in Turkiye surged 20.6% year-on-year in March, according to the latest data released on Friday.

A total of 134,170 houses changed hands last month, up from 111,241 in March 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported.

Mortgaged house sales amounted to 30,271 in March, up 38.8% year-on-year, accounting for 22.6% of all sales.

Sales to foreign buyers jumped by 31% to 5,567 units last month.

Istanbul, Turkiye’s largest city in terms of population, had the lion’s share of sales to foreign buyers -- 2,245 units.

The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya followed with 1,434 properties and the capital Ankara was third with 347.

Among foreign nationals, Iranians bought the most houses -- 784, followed by Iraqis with 741 purchases and Russians 547.

In January and March, 320,063 residential properties were sold in Turkiye, increasing by 21.7% compared to the same period of last year.

Sales to foreigners in the first three months jumped 45.1% on an annual basis to 14,344, according to the data.