UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM ISTANBUL ANATOLIAN-SIDE CONTRACTORS' ASSOCIATION, MINOR EDITS
By Gokhan Ergocun
ANKARA (AA) - The number of residential properties sold in Turkey increased by 4.7 percent year-on-year in August, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Monday.
Data showed that 120,198 houses changed hands in Turkey during the month.
"House sales to foreigners hit 1,684, marking an increase of 11.4 percent compared to the same month of the previous year," TurkStat said.
Nearly 31 percent (or 524 units) of the total sales to foreigners were in Istanbul, the country's largest city by population.
Following Istanbul, the Mediterranean holiday resort city of Antalya came second with 376 properties, while the Marmara province of Yalova came third with 103 units.
Commenting on the August figures, Melih Tavukcuoglu, head of the Istanbul Anatolian-side Contractors’ Association, said that 890,430 houses were sold during the first eight months of the year.
Marketing campaigns for large housing projects contributed to the increase in sales, Tavukcuoglu said, adding the number of houses sold to foreigners in Istanbul rose 20 percent in August compared to the same month last year.
"This points to an increase in confidence in Turkey," he said, adding the granting of citizenship rights to foreigners purchasing over $1 million of real estate, plus a discount in taxes on sales made to foreigners were other factors that drove up the numbers.
According to TurkStat's figures, Iraqis topped the list of buyers with 317 properties, followed by Saudis with 198 units, Kuwaitis 135, Russians 95 and Afghans 81.