Turkey Property Market Overview

Turkey has long been at a crossroads both in terms of trade, culture and continents.

Many investors have simply been to Turkey on one of the many cheap package holidays there in the summer due to its excellent climate and subsequently choose to buy a second home here without spending too much money. But this is not the kind of investment we recommend.

Turkey has a very liberal Muslim society, a large diverse landscape and a young population that is expanding rapidly – great demographics.

It is the combination of this large young workforce and economic growth potential that is attracting many foreign companies to this potential vast market place.

Jobs are being created, the cities populations are booming and the economy is growing rapidly.

It is because of these dynamics that investors are looking to invest in Turkey.

The high growth Turkish cities is where the money is to be made, albeit with higher risk compared to more stable European property markets.

Locals can now get mortgages and since the beginning of 2008 theoretically it is possible for Turkish banks to offer mortgages to foreigners – however these are still taking some time to come to fruition and terms are not attractive. Once mortgages do become widely available prices could increase substantially.

Whilst there is huge potential in Turkey for the reasons mentioned above there are still a number of risks (beside it being in an earthquake zone).

There are still political tensions and potential for instability and policy changes, which one cannot easily predict.

Turkey lacks the support infrastructure and services to provide foreign property investors with good quality property management.

Whilst the economy is performing well Turkey is unlikely to join the EU any time soon, which would give it a much need boost for investor confidence.

Istanbul would probably have the most property investment potential in Turkey, due to its high population growth, geographical position, trade, FDI and inherent wealth.

Turkey, undeniably, has a lot of potential, however, similar future growth rates can be achieved in many Central and Eastern European cities, with better mortgage finance and for far less risk.