Turkish push in real estate: Overseas investments reach $1 billion

Foreigners made $1.4 billion in purchases from Turkey in the first 5 months. The total for the previous year was $3.5 billion, while the 2022 total was $6.3 billion. Meanwhile, the amount of real estate purchased by Turks abroad in the first 5 months approached $1.1 billion. Turks, who were making $130 million in annual purchases from abroad 5-10 years ago, are now doing double that figure per month.

HOUSING INVESTMENTS ABROAD HIT A RECORD

Furthermore, Turkish construction investments abroad have increased 5-fold. The investments of Turkish construction companies, which want to catch up with Turks going abroad and create alternatives against the stagnant market, also reached $249 million in the first 5 months. This figure was at the $47 million level in the first 5 months of last year. The data shows that while Turkish housing investments abroad are breaking records, foreign real estate purchases in our country have fallen to their lowest levels in recent years.

Bayram Tekçe, President of the Real Estate International Promotion Association (GİGDER), stated in his assessment of the issue that foreign housing investments in Turkey have continued to decline for the last 2 years. Expressing that despite this, records are being broken in housing investments made abroad by Turks living in Turkey, Tekçe continued his words as follows:

'FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT ABROAD WILL EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT COMING TO TURKEY'

In 2024, Turkish housing investment abroad is expected to reach $3 billion, an increase of approximately 50 percent compared to 2023. This will be the highest figure of all time. Additionally, in many foreign countries, just like in Turkey, the title deed value is shown below the actual sale price. With this perspective, we can say that Turkish investments abroad may even exceed $4 billion. In the same period, we expect the amount paid by foreigners for houses they bought in our country to be at the $2-2.5 billion level. Thus, for the first time in history, Turkish investments abroad will exceed the amount of investment coming into our country in this field.

GİGDER President Bayram Tekçe, touching on the reasons for the decline in international investors' housing investments in Turkey, said that there is a negative perception towards foreign investors in the real estate sector, and that irregular migrants lie at the root of this. Stating that international investors and irregular migrants must be clearly distinguished here, Tekçe concluded his words with the following statements:

'INVESTORS CAN ONLY STAY IN TURKEY FOR 2 MONTHS A YEAR'

"Granting residency solely by renting a house should be ended. We believe that investor residency programs, referred to as golden visas in Europe, would make a significant contribution to our sector. Unfortunately, the residency duration of international investors is not being extended in our country. They have all made investments, but because their residencies are not extended, they are going abroad. For example, a retired Norwegian couple who had resided in Turkey for 17 years had to leave their home in Turkey and buy a house in Egypt because their residency was not extended. Germans and British people were coming. They can easily stay for 6 months, but after that, it is not extended, and they have to leave. According to GİGDEKS research, global investors who buy houses from Turkey stay in our country for 2.8 months a year. Therefore, these people do not actually need to obtain residency or a passport. The most important reason that forces these people to obtain residency is that address registration is made mandatory. Otherwise, electricity and water cannot be connected to the purchased residence. It is extremely important for us to look at this in a facilitating way, like European countries, and to overcome the obstacles that make things difficult for global investors, in terms of bringing foreign currency into our country. Indeed, no one wants to invest abroad and experience legal problems. Therefore, as we insistently emphasize, we believe that the distinction between global investors and irregular migrants should be made with this perspective in mind."