Income shock for the personnel that will be transferred to the Financial Center

Rents, which have increased by 150 percent in the last year in Istanbul, have also affected staff who will be moving from Ankara to Istanbul for the Istanbul Financial Center (IFC).

Real estate agents in Ümraniye and Ataşehir and real estate consultants analyzing this region said that staff in Ankara did not want to come to the IFC, which is scheduled to open in April, that they started to look for prices for renting flats, but did not return because they found high prices.

‘THE GARDEN FLAT WAS REQUESTED FOR 8 THOUSAND TL OF RENT’

Nizamettin Aşa, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Realtors, speaking to Sozcu.com.tr, said many homeowners have given up renting or selling their houses in anticipation of IFC raising prices further; Real estate agents in the region, for their part, explained that although IFC is expected to open its doors in April, the desired step in relocations has not yet been taken.

A real estate agent in Ataşehir said: “The managers of the staff who will be moving here have contacted us. However, they said they would look at the surrounding districts due to the high prices.”

Another real estate agent we interviewed said that the managers contacted them rather than the staff, saying: “The rent for a 2+1 flat on the garden floor, requested by a manager, was 8 thousand TL, then no one came back. “No one is coming to ask right now,” he said.

LOOKING FOR HIGH PRICES AND LACK OF SUPPLY

SNC real estate investment consultant Burçak Sencer Çokgör, stating that the rent for a 2+1 flat in Ataşehir can reach up to TL 50,000, said: “Rents, which doubled in one year in Istanbul, have increased by 2 -3 times during here. Staff living in Ankara say they do not want to face the rent increase they will be exposed to in Istanbul because their salaries will not increase at the same rate. It is not possible for them to pay these rents and maintain the same comfort”.

Real estate consultant Abdullah Küçük, who stated that he met the senior managers who would come to the Financial Center 3-4 months ago, said: “They operate on a limited budget. Ataşehir does not comply with the central budgets. That’s why they look for houses in the vicinity that fit their budget. Prices are high and there are not enough homes. They continue their search because of the high prices and the insufficient supply, ”he said.

‘THE SUPPLY IN ATASEHIR IS NOT ENOUGH EVEN FOR 10 PERCENT OF THE DEMAND’

IFC, scheduled to open in April, will include the offices of the Central Bank (CBRT), BRSA, CMB, Ziraat Bank, Halkbank, Vakıfbank, Borsa Istanbul, Turkey Insurance and İŞ REIT.

According to the CBRT Annual Report 2021, the Central Bank alone has 3,623 employees. It was reported that the relocation affected 2,118 people at Headquarters.

According to the information on the IFC website, when the project is finished, it will house an average of 75 to 100 thousand employees per day. However, there is no such supply of rental housing on the Anatolian side of Istanbul.

Abdullah Küçük said that the current supply in Ataşehir will not be enough for even 10 percent of the incoming demand, and more than 90 percent of the demand will have to be shifted to surrounding districts.

‘PRICES RISE 40%, WILL CONTINUE RISING’

Another effect of IFC is the prices…

So far, the project has increased the value of flats for rent and sale not only in Ataşehir, but also in Şerifali, Kozyatağı and Yenisahra; At this point, it is claimed that the project will further increase prices as it will increase demand for the already limited housing supply.

According to BETAM data, the prices per square meter of rental flats in Istanbul Ataşehir increased to 134 TL in 2022, with an annual increase of 174.3 percent. Thus, Ataşehir became the 8th district with the highest increase in prices per square meter last year.

Noting that the construction of the IFC had an impact on prices when they started to rise, and that prices on the Anatolian side had increased by 30 to 40 percent in the last 5 years, Küçük noted that there would be another increase of prices. due to insufficient housing supply.

IT WILL ALSO AFFECT ÇEKMEKÖY, MALTEPE, KARTAL AND PENDİK

Expressing that the prices of flats will increase in a wide range from Ataşehir and Ümraniye to Çekmeköy, Maltepe, Kartal and Pendik, as staff start to rent a house, Küçük noted that this increase will not only be limited to the prices of the housing, but will also increase office rents.

LOOKING FOR FURNISHED APARTMENTS FOR RENT

Real estate investment specialist Aslı Tana Yıldırım, on the other hand, reported that the staff who will come to the Financial Center from outside the city are especially looking for furnished rental apartments and that the interest in these apartments is increasing.

“Currently, Atatürk Mh. and in known projects in Barbaros Mh., 1+1 apartments for rent reached between TL 15,000 and TL 30,000,” Yıldırım said, adding, “There have been price increases, but the actual increases will be seen more clearly when all the white and blue collar workers start work.”

Noting that rental rates have doubled in surrounding districts and rental properties are not easy to find, Yıldırım said, “Landlords who think the numbers will increase further may delay renting. There are many clients looking for flats to rent in the surrounding area, but stocks are very limited.”

‘THE RUSSIANS HAVE ALSO SHARED THE MARKET’

According to real estate investment adviser Burçak Sencer Çokgör, rents for 1+1 apartments in Ümraniye, which were TL 2-3,000, increased to TL 8,000 last year. Stating that room rentals have started at 3,000 TL on the Anatolian side, Çokgör said that rentals at the sites start from 12,000 TL.

Stating that the effect of the Financial Center on fixed prices began a few years ago, and that the Russians who came to Turkey after the war accelerated the increase in market prices and worked with Europe, Çokgör continued:

“Financial Center pricing didn’t happen all at once. It’s been going on slowly for two years now, and it gets bigger as the end gets closer. The Russians, on the other hand, further accelerated the price hike. There has been a slowdown in recent months. This may be due to the uncertainty created by the upcoming elections, but in the previous 6 months, the Russians took the market by storm.

‘THEY WANT 30 THOUSAND TL FOR THE FLOOR THAT YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN FOR 3 THOUSAND TL’

The price for 2+1 apartments in Ataşehir, which last year was asking for 20,000 TL, is now 50,000 TL. In the previous year, it was 6-7-8 thousand TL. When we look at where prices have been in two years, we see an abnormal increase.

They want 30 thousand TL for the floor that you will not keep for 3 thousand TL.

Russian inflated prices are also tempting some owners. Since the next apartment is rented for 30,000 TL, there are people who increase their apartment from 5,000 TL to 30,000 TL. This example is not an extreme example, the numbers really are.”