UPDATE - Turkey: More than 500,000 houses sold in H1

UPDATES WITH FIGURES FOR PROPERTY SALES TO FOREIGNERS

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - House sales in Turkey fell to 505,796 properties in the first half of 2019, the country's statistical authority announced Wednesday.

The figure meant 21.7% decline on a yearly basis, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Some 206,254 houses were sold for the first time while the remaining were second-hand sales from January to June.

Istanbul -- Turkey's largest city by population and a key tourist center -- took the largest share of the pie with 18% or 91,561 house sales in the first six months of this year.

Official data showed that the capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir racked up 48,814 (9.6%) and 29,066 (5.7% percent) of total housing sales, respectively.

Mortgaged house sales were recorded at 82,885 -- a 16.4% share of all house sales over the same period.

- Sales to foreigners

Official data showed that property sales to foreigners rose by 69% year-on-year, reaching 19,952 units during the same period.

Istanbul led sales with 8,903 houses, followed by the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya (4,093) and Ankara (1,111).

Among foreigners, Iraqi nationals topped the list with 3,337 houses, TurkStat said.

They were followed by Iranians with 2,202 units, Russians with 1,264 and Germans with 745.