The construction sector has been the locomotive of the Turkish economy in recent decades. There is no doubt Turkish construction companies have improved their know-how in this field and are much sought after, globally.
It is interesting to know that among the customers of the Turkish construction sector, foreigners are observed to have formed an important group with large potential and regarded to be among best customers for the sector.
In fact, it is reported that the revenue Turkey received from real estate sales made to foreigners between 2003 and 2017 totals up to US$ 42 billion. Experts forecast this figure could go up to US$ 50 billion by the end of current year.
It is also observed that the revenues received from real estate sales to foreigners has shown a substantial increase since the reciprocity law came into force in 2013. Thus, revenue from property sales, which was US$ 998 million in 2003, went up to US$ 1.34 billion in 2004 and US$ 1.84 billion in 2005.
The sector which actually expected to make a better start at the beginning of 2018 was not very happy with the performance of domestic sales. Luckily however, real estate sales to foreigners in the first three months seem to have compensated for low local sales due to issues with economy and an increase of 20% in sales to foreigners has been the good news for companies operating in the sector.
Based on substantial increase in foreign exchange rates and the reduction of US$ 1 million required for citizenship to real estate purchases of US$ 300,000 experts believe the revenue to be generated from home sales to foreigners will comfortably reach US$ 50 billion by end of 2018.
It is reported that since the law of reciprocity came into effect, foreigners have purchased approximately 100,000 houses over the last five years. It is also pointed out by professionals that substantial increase has been observed in the sales trend over said period. Another point to note is that foreign customers are observed to prefer investments ranging from $ 100,000 to $ 300,000 mainly. The good news for Turkey is that this situation will certainly make a significant contribution to both the real estate sector and Turkey's economy.
On the other hand it was reported by Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) that the number of properties sold to foreigners had gone up by 25.8 percent year-on-year, in April 2018. The same official body also mentioned in its report that in said period 2,043 houses were sold to foreigners, including 676 units in Istanbul. Other places preferred by foreign buyers are Antalya with 475 properties sold and Bursa with 150 properties sold in same period.
Also, holiday resorts such as Fethiye, Bodrum, Marmaris and Datça etc were mentioned in the same report among spots mostly favored by buyers from countries such as Great Britain and Germany.
