Turkey: Housing sales decline by 4 pct in June

ANKARA

Property sales in Turkey dropped by 4 percent on an annual basis during the month of June, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported Friday.

The institute said that 106,187 houses changed hands in the country in June.

Of those sales, 1,543 were sold to foreigners, down 31.6 percent year-on-year, with approximately 33 percent (or 507 units) of them in Istanbul, the country's most populated city.

Following Istanbul, the holiday resort city of Antalya came in second with 318 properties sold. The southern Mediterranean city of Mersin ranked third with 97 properties sold.

Nazmi Durbakayim, president of Istanbul Contractors’ Association, said the housing sales tended to decline during Ramadan, a month of fasting in the Islamic calendar.

Durbakayim said he expected the sales would boost after next month.

"In the country, the sales pick up after September when the holiday season ends," he said.

According to Durbakayim, the allocation of permanent residency or citizenship to foreigners, especially to Syrians, would help contractors sell their stocks.

TurkStat data also reflected this trend, which showed Iraqis topped the list of buyers, with 214 properties acquired, followed by Russians (114), Saudis (112), Kuwaitis (110) and Afghans (107).

In overall sales, Istanbul has maintained its top spot with 19.2 percent of house transfers. The capital, Ankara, and the western city of Izmir followed, with 11 percent and 6.4 percent of shares respectively.

Mortgages for house sales in the country decreased to 36,371 compared to the same month last year.

House sales with mortgages represented a 34.3 percent share of all house sales in Turkey. Currently, the mortgage rate for 120 months is between 0.95 percent and 1.30 percent per month in Turkey.