Iranians Become Top Foreign Home Buyers in Turkey for Fourth Consecutive Month
A new report from Turkey’s Statistical Institute shows that Iranians have become the leading foreign home buyers in Turkey for the fourth consecutive month.
Despite Turkey closing its borders to Iranian citizens since early March of last year, Iranians have continued purchasing homes in Turkey.
Last month, Iranians purchased 205 residential units in Turkey, representing approximately one-quarter of all homes sold to foreigners in the country.
In the first five months of the year, Iranians have purchased 2,230 residential units from Turkey and remained the top foreign home buyers during this period. However, these statistics only include the purchase of apartment buildings and do not include other properties such as commercial or industrial properties (shops, workshops, commercial centers, etc.).
Under Turkey’s new law implemented since September 2018, foreigners who purchase at least $250,000 in property in Turkey are eligible to receive Turkish citizenship. Previously, the requirement for granting citizenship was a $1 million investment in the Turkish real estate market.
Late last year, Turkey announced that since 2017, seven thousand foreigners from 101 countries have been able to obtain Turkish citizenship through property purchases, with Iranians leading at 1,475 people.
Early this month, the Turkish government also announced that so far, 9,000 foreigners have obtained Turkish citizenship through real estate investment, but did not provide details about the nationality breakdown of the statistics.
After Iran, citizens of Iraq, Russia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Jordan, Azerbaijan, and Germany have had the highest number of home purchases in Turkey during the current year.
During the first five months of the current year, Turkey sold 12,598 residential units to foreigners, showing a 27 percent decrease compared to the same period last year. This was due to a sharp decline in home sales to foreigners in April and May due to the widespread quarantine resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.
Half of the homes sold to foreigners in the first five months of the current year were in Istanbul, with Antalya, Ankara, and Bursa ranking next.
Detailed statistics show that home sales in Turkey to foreigners in April dropped nearly fourfold compared to the previous month, but showed some increase in May compared to April.
Source: Radio Farda
