Apartments are no longer an investment vehicle: The new trend is land investment

Stating that 55 percent of the buildings across Bursa were constructed before the earthquake, Elfi Real Estate Founder and Broker Özkan Aydemir said, "When we talk about Turkey as a whole, we see that 93 thousand homes were sold as of the end of November. Nearly 5 thousand 200 of these were homes sold with mortgages. In other words, 5.5 percent of all sales were made with housing loans. When we come to Bursa, 3 thousand 449 home sales took place in November. When we look at the 11-month sales, it has been the year with the lowest home sales in the last 9 years. 55 percent of the buildings in Bursa are pre-earthquake buildings, meaning buildings constructed before the year 2000. According to official data, there are 965 thousand buildings in Bursa. 55 percent of these are pre-earthquake buildings that need to undergo urban transformation. For this reason, we do not foresee a drop in prices in the real estate sector. Of course, there is a high probability that prices will return to sellable market figures by removing the bubble, even if it is by one step," he said.

While the earthquakes that occurred one after another in the Marmara Region in the last month have made everyone uneasy, the talk of an earthquake that will affect Istanbul, Bursa, Yalova, and nearby provinces has once again made people doubt the durability of their homes. Stating that the small earthquakes are an indicator that time is running out and that everyone must do their best to pave the way for transformation as soon as possible, Aydemir said, "We have to provide our people with healthy structures as soon as possible, regardless of what the citizens or the public say. The failure to open new zoned areas in Bursa has also caused the prices of existing plots and areas to rise. Due to the failure to open new zoning areas, land costs have surpassed construction costs. New zoning areas must be opened and urban transformation must be accelerated in Bursa. In a place where inflation in real estate is around 70 percent, I recommend buying a home, even if it is on credit, provided that there are construction companies that can be trusted with installments. Because borrowing in Turkish Lira will provide a very large contribution for a year later. One of the most important criteria here is whether the company from which they bought the real estate is strong and the financial status of the contractor company," he said.

"Housing has ceased to be an income vehicle"

Reminding that apartments have ceased to be an investment vehicle with the 25 percent rent increase cap applied to housing at one-year intervals, Aydemir said, "80 percent of the customers who gave up on buying apartments turned to plots, land, and commercial properties. When we look at the statistics, we have started to see land and commercial property sales far ahead of housing sales in the 10-year process. The reason for this is that real estate investors turned to plots, land, and commercial properties because they could not see rental income from buying homes. There is a reality that while there were 1+1 apartments in the 250 thousand band in the Nilüfer district in 2020, the lowest apartment here has now risen to a price like 2 million. The fact that apartment prices have risen to the 2 million band even in 1+1 apartments and that housing loans are closed has made purchasing power difficult," he said.