UPDATE - Housing sales drop by 8.1 percent in June in Turkey

UPDATES WITH ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

By Dilara Zengin and Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The number of residential properties sold in Turkey decreased by 8.1 percent annually in June, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Monday.

A total of 97,579 houses changed hands in June, down by 16.3 percent compared with a month earlier.

The number of properties sold to foreigners surged by 24.8 percent year-on-year in June.

Of the total sales, 1,926 houses were sold to foreigners, with approximately 46.8 percent (or 903 units) of them in Istanbul, the country's largest city by population.

Following Istanbul, the Mediterranean holiday resort city of Antalya came second with 408 properties, while the northwestern province of Bursa ranked third with 93 units.

The figures showed that Saudis topped the list of buyers with 612 properties, followed by Iraqis with 239 units, Kuwaitis 136, Russians 115 and British 87.

Commenting on the new data, Melih Tavukcuoglu, head of the Istanbul Anatolian-side Contractors’ Association, pointed out rising interest of foreigners in the country’s housing sector.

"The interest of foreigners in Turkey increasingly continues since April," he said, adding: “It hit a record high in June."

House sales to foreigners rose by 2.7 percent annually in April, and 10.1 percent in May, according to TurkStat.

Tavukcuoglu reminded that a total of 9,595 units were sold to foreigners in the first half of this year.

"If the house sales to foreigners continue at this rate, we may close the year by selling around 20,000 units to foreigners," he noted.

Tavukcuoglu said the figures showed trust of foreigners in Turkey.

Julian Walker, director at Spot Blue International Property, which deals with property in prime Turkish areas like Istanbul, said that encouraging domestic demand and a weaker Turkish Lira resulted in greater buying power for international investors, especially from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UK.