Turkish housing sales rise in August

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 became 1,684 by increasing 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.

The figures showed that Iraqis topped the list of buyers with 317 properties, followed by Saudis with 198 units, Kuwaitis 135, Russians 95 and Afghans 81.