Taylor Scott International News
Rising foreign demand, record levels of tourism and healthy economic conditions throughout 2014 mean Turkey should expect further growth in its real estate market in 2015, it is claimed. House sales to foreigners in the first 10 months of 2014 increased 66% year on year to reach 15,417, according to the Turkish Statistical Agency (TurkStat). The province with the most foreign buyers between January and October was Antalya, home to the city of Antalya, as well as the resorts of Kalkan, Belek, Side and Alanya. Istanbul had the second highest number of non-Turkish buyers. ‘This rise in foreign interest is especially noteworthy as overall sales in Turkey, including those to Turks, fell slightly for the period compared to 2013,’ said Julian Walker, director at Spot Blue International Property. ‘By the end of September this year though, the number of foreign purchases in Turkey had already exceeded the total for the whole of 2013. This shows how important the foreign market is becoming to Turkey and will continue to be in 2015,’ he explained. Property prices have shown steady increases during 2014, with Turkey recording the highest house price growth of all G20 member countries between the second quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014, up by 14%, according to an index by international property consultants Knight Frank. Meanwhile, Turkey's Reidin-GYODER New House Price index recorded a month on month rise of 1.33% in October and 7.3% rise compared with the same month last year. Revenue generated by tourism in Turkey hit a new record for the January to September period this year, generating $26.6 billion, according to TurkStat. The country welcomed more than 30 million visitors during this period, a 6.1% increase over the same period last year. These figures would suggest the country is on course to receiving 43 million tourists for the whole of 2014, hitting its revenue target of $36 billion, according to a forecast made by the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies. Turkey is now the sixth most popular holiday destination in the world, according to 2013 data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). As well as attracting high numbers of foreign property sales, Antalya is also Turkey's most visited destination. ‘This year has seen ongoing improvement in air access to Turkey, which attracts more tourists as well as gives confidence to investors and the international business community. Significantly, new routes launched recently include to the Americas and Asia, with increased frequency to the Middle East,’ Walker said. He also pointed out that under pinning Turkey's bullish tourism and real estate markets in 2015 will be the country's economy. The IMF predicts GDP growth of 3% for 2014 after analysis done in September, while the European Economic Forecast published in November forecasts growth of 3.3% in 2015 and 3.7% by 2016. Taylor Scott International
Taylor Scott International, Taylor Scott
