Turkeys' housing market sees rise in sales in March

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Home sales rose by 10 percent last month compared to a year earlier, the Turkish Statistical Institute said Monday.

Nearly 129,000 residential properties were sold in March, a 27 percent increase on February.

The increase was helped by a cut in sales tax and real estate companies’ campaigns.

However, Omer Faruk Celik, honorary president of the Housing Developers and Investors Organization, warned that figures for April were likely to drop due to the uncertainty surrounding the constitutional referendum.

More than a third of sales were in the country’s three largest cities -- Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

The number of properties sold to foreigners fell by 1.1 percent year-on-year, despite government incentives to encourage overseas buyers.

The number of new mortgages also rose in March -- up by 30 percent compared to the previous year.