Istanbul leaves the world behind in rent increases! Here are the 3 districts where prices have risen the most

Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan's complaints about exorbitant rent prices in Istanbul have brought the city's rental prices back to the agenda.

The Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), affiliated with the IBB, shared the results of its report titled "Housing as a Right: Is Access to Healthy, Durable, and Safe Housing Possible for Everyone?"

The report once again laid bare the exorbitant rent increases in Istanbul.

84.14 PERCENT INCREASE IN HOUSING SALES PRICES, 75.56 PERCENT IN RENTAL PRICES

According to November 2023 data, housing sales prices in Istanbul increased by 84.14 percent and rental prices by 75.56 percent over the last year.

The report pointed out that despite the increase in housing supply across Istanbul in the 2000s, purchasing a home has become impossible for middle and low-income groups, stating, "Rental housing offered across the city has also lost its affordability for low and middle-income groups."

ISTANBUL LEAVES THE WORLD BEHIND IN RENT INCREASES

The report emphasized that while rent prices increased in all countries between 2020 and 2022 due to the impact of the pandemic, rents in Istanbul increased 5.2 times, compared to a 1.6-fold increase worldwide.

DISTRICTS IN ISTANBUL WITH THE HIGHEST RENT INCREASES

The districts where average residential rent prices have increased the most over the last four years since 2019 are listed as follows:

• Üsküdar 961 percent, 
• Kağıthane 954 percent,
• Beykoz 889 percent,
• Başakşehir 879 percent,
• Küçükçekmece 861 percent,
• Eyüpsultan 804 percent.

The districts that experienced the highest increase in square meter prices for rental housing in Istanbul during the 2019-2023 period are listed as follows: 

• Çekmeköy: %1200 
• Ümraniye %1109 
• Pendik %1097 
• Sultanbeyli %1095 
• Tuzla %1067

Furthermore, the top ten neighborhoods in Istanbul that observed the most dramatic increase in residential rents during the 2019-2023 period are listed as follows:

• Beykoz-Riva: %2144 
• Fatih-Molla Hüsrev: %1643 
• Kağıthane-Hami: %1638 
• Fatih-Küçük Ayasofya: %1588) 
• Çekmeköy-Nişantepe: %1575 
• Maltepe-Çınar: %1542 
• Büyükçekmece-Karaağaç: %1519
• Çekmeköy-Sırapınar: %1493 
• Tuzla-Tepeören: %1487 
• Kartal-Atalar: %1449 
• Sarıyer-Uskumruköy: %1374

"HOUSING CRISIS HAS BECOME INEVITABLE"

Underlining that the housing crisis has become inevitable in Türkiye as purchasing power has also fallen rapidly in recent years, the report stated, "The serious price increases in housing rents and sales, the widening rent gap with every change of residence, and problems such as the inability to find new housing not only shake household economies during the process of finding a home, but also leave tenants in a constant state of anxiety and unease."

95 PERCENT CANNOT BENEFIT FROM HOUSING LOANS

Comparing the increase in the minimum wage with the increase in rent prices, the report stated, "It is observed that minimum wage raises have increased much less than rents. This imbalance, which causes wage earners to spend the vast majority of their earnings on rent expenses, has reached a dimension that increases social injustice and threatens social peace. The fact that 95 percent of society cannot benefit from housing loans in this period, and that mortgage-backed housing sales have fallen to a historic low across the country, leads to housing turning into a financial investment tool rather than a shelter."