Iranians Remain Biggest Foreign Buyer of Turkish Properties

EghtesadOnline: Iranian nationals purchased 1,599 homes in Turkey during the first quarter of 2021.

News ID: ۷۸۶۳۶۶

18 April 2021

The figure indicates a 14% year-on-year decline, although Iranians still top the list of foreign buyers of property in the neighboring country.

A total of 9,992 housing units were sold to non-Turkish citizens during the three months, according to the latest figures published by Turkish Statistical Institute.

Iranians were followed by Iraqis with 1,461 house purchases in Q1.

Russians with 928, Afghans with 700 and Kazakhstani nationals with 354 units came next.

With 663 home deals, Iranians also topped the list of foreign buyers of Turkish property in March. Iraqis purchased 644 units, followed by Russians, with 419 home deals during that month.

A year-on-year comparison of monthly figures indicates a 42.5% growth in home sales to Iranian nationals.

By implementing a series of policies aimed at attracting foreign direct investment in recent years, Turkey has succeeded in attracting many investors from regional countries, especially from the Middle East.

After the "Turkuaz Kart" (Turquoise Card), a practice similar to the US Green Card application, was launched in 2016, it became possible to get Turkish citizenship by investing in the country as of 2017.

Real-estate investment, particularly in Iranian megacities, used to be sensible and lucrative. However, investors were driven to foreign states, as investment risks increased with market volatility.

There are different speculations concerning the reasons behind the domestic housing investment stagnation and the tendency toward overseas markets. Some experts cite lack of construction plans and failure to control real-estate prices in Iran as two contributing factor.