A new record in the influx of Russians who bought housing in Antalya

House sales statistics published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) for the month of November revealed that Russians broke a monthly sales record by buying 2,575 houses from Turkey in November.

Thus, while sales to foreigners decreased 17.4 percent annually in November, they increased 20.4 percent in the January-November period. Most of the sales were made to the Russians.

While 6,083 houses were sold to foreigners in November, 42 percent of this, or 2,575 units, was built for Russians.

On an annual basis, while the number of residences purchased by Russian citizens in Turkey in November 2021 was 836, this number increased to 2,575 in November 2022. In other words, home sales to Russians increased by 208 percent. in the last year.

In November this year, after the Russians, Iran with 510 residences, Iraq with 331 residences, and Ukraine with 277 residences bought the most residences.

Source: TURKSTAT

33.1 PERCENT OF HOUSING IN ANTALYA IS FOR FOREIGNERS

The province with the highest number of home sales to foreigners was once again Antalya.

While a total of 7,902 houses were sold in Antalya in November 2022, 2,616 of them were built for foreigners.

Thus, the share of foreigners in the sales of houses sold in Antalya in November was 33.1 percent. This rate was 33.5 percent in the previous month; In November of the previous year it was 21.8 percent.

In addition, the share of home sales to foreigners in total home sales increased from 4.1 percent in November 2021 to 5.2 percent in November 2022.

As of November 2022, the other provinces with the highest sales to foreigners were Istanbul with 1,733 houses and Mersin with 567 houses.

Source: TURKSTAT

PRICES RISE: 223.5 PERCENT IN ONE YEAR

On the other hand, the severe increase in housing and rent prices in Antalya, where the Russians flocked after the war, forces the population of Antalya to emigrate.

According to data from BETAM, the average sale price of homes throughout the country increased by 191.4 percent compared to October last year; In the same period, price increases in Antalya reached 223.5 percent.

The tripling of rental prices in the city in one year forced citizens, officials and tourism workers to migrate from the city where they had lived for years.

SHARP FALL IN CITIZEN PURCHASE

Another striking point is the decrease in home sales to citizens due to factors such as the country’s high inflation and the increase in the cost of living.

While sales to foreigners rose 20.4 percent in the January-November 2022 period, total home sales rose just 1 percent in the same period.

Home sales fell for the fifth straight month.

Although the government says that it offers home loans to citizens with affordable loan rates, there is a significant decline in mortgage sales as the number of loans that banks give to citizens is very limited.

According to TUIK data, while sales of foreclosed homes across the country increased by 61% in November 2021, they decreased by 57.7% annually in November 2022.

ANTALYA LAUNCHES A CAMPAIGN OF CHARACTER

Reuters had written that after the prices increased 4-5 times due to the demand created by the rapidly increasing number of foreigners in Antalya, the Turks could not find a house.

That is why thousands of Antalya residents who have been victimized want to stop selling and renting houses to foreigners with a petition they started on Change.org.

In the text of the campaign, which affirms that “the increase in rents that is strongly felt in Antalya has caused a housing crisis and has made it impossible for many people to live in the city”, it is pointed out that the foreign resident population in the city it is close to 200,000 and that one in four people living in Konyaaltı is a foreigner.