Mustafa Hakan Özelmacıklı: Expectations show a decline in rents

Especially in the recent period, supply in the rental housing market has been increasing while demand has begun to fall. While rental prices, which have been on the rise for a long time, have started to decline in recent weeks, the time it takes to rent out properties has also lengthened.

Altın Emlak General Manager Mustafa Hakan Özelmacıklı, who made assessments regarding the rental housing market, said, "Especially in the recent period, there has been an increase in the supply of rental housing. We can say that the first of the reasons for this increase is that homes that have been on the market for a long time cannot be sold due to high interest rates, and these homes are being offered to the market for rent. Another reason is the legal regulations introduced by the Ministry of Tourism for short-term rentals. In this context, many furnished apartments will no longer be able to be rented out for short periods, and we will see the effects of this starting from January. In addition to these types of supply increases, there is also a decline in demand. The end of the wedding season, the decrease in student demand, additional restrictions introduced in many regions for rentals to foreigners, and the tightening of investment requirements for foreigners' residence permits can be called the main reasons for these declines. Within this framework, while the number of rental homes has increased recently, prices have also started to decline," he said.

"E-CONTRACT WILL LEAVE ITS MARK ON 2024"

Stating that steps will be taken in 2024 to allow rental agreements to be made via e-Government, Özelmacıklı said, "With the E-contract regulation, the infrastructure of which is prepared by the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, rental agreements will be able to be drawn up in an electronic environment. We can state that the regulation will support decision-making processes regarding rents and will be beneficial for creating value maps. Especially in this infrastructure, authorized real estate businesses will also play an important role. We expect the regulation to be active by the end of 2024 at the latest," he said.

"EXPECTATIONS SHOW A DECLINE IN RENTS"

Providing information about rent increases and average rent per square meter in some cities, Özelmacıklı said, "While the average square meter value for residential rents in Istanbul is at the 150 TL level, it is possible to say that rental values have risen by nearly 80 percent in the last year. In Ankara, while rents have increased by 150 percent in the last year, we can say that the rent per square meter is at the 100 TL level. In İzmir, while rents have increased by an average of 120 percent in the last year, the rent per square meter has reached the 140 TL level. In Bursa, while the average rent per square meter is at the 100 TL level, the increase in the last year has reached the 140 percent level. In Antalya, the average rent per square meter is at the 140 TL level, and the increase in the last year has remained limited to the 50 percent level. We can even say that price declines started earlier in Antalya. In Mersin, the average rent per square meter is at the 105 TL level, and the increase in the last year is at the 100 percent level. In Kocaeli, the average rent per square meter is 110 TL, and the increase in the last year has risen to the 160 percent level. In Gaziantep, while the average rent per square meter is 86 TL, it has increased by 135 percent," he said.