Departure of Syrians fails to lower rents

Syrian refugees who had settled in Gaziantep, Kilis, Hatay, Şanlıurfa, and Mardin, as well as in Istanbul and other provinces, continue to return to their country following the regime change in Syria. According to TUIK data, with the return of Syrians living in Gaziantep—the city hosting the second-highest number of Syrian refugees after Istanbul—the number of vacant apartments has increased in a city already facing a rental housing shortage. It is noteworthy that in Gaziantep, where rental prices were expected to fall following the departure of Syrians, there has been no decline in rental costs; instead, prices have risen further. While many citizens hoped that rents would decrease due to the vacated homes, rental prices in Gaziantep have increased by approximately 50 percent compared to last year.

Citizens, unable to make sense of the continued rise in rental prices in a city where the number of vacant rental homes is increasing, particularly in peripheral neighborhoods, express their frustration by saying, "The houses are becoming vacant, but the prices are not dropping."

Real estate agents, noting that the expectation of Syrians returning to their country had raised hopes for a price drop in the real estate market, particularly for rental homes, stated that the reason for the increase in rental prices stems from rising costs as well as the demand for apartments with natural gas heating instead of detached houses with stoves.

Stating that the return of Syrians has not caused a decrease or stabilization in rental prices, real estate agent Mehmet Çil said, "Demand for apartments has increased. Because of this, when we look at previous years, a rental apartment that was 10 or 12 thousand liras has become 15-20 thousand liras on average. The reason for this is that demand for apartments has not decreased; on the contrary, it has increased. Our elderly citizens do not prefer detached houses because they cannot manage the stairs. They prefer apartments. Because they prefer apartments, there is an increase in rents. The return of Syrians briefly slowed down the rent increases for a while. There were only small increases. However, this situation has now changed. Since our newlywed couples generally all demand apartments, there is an increase in rents. The reason for the slight rise in apartment prices is that costs are high. An apartment that was 2.5 million TL last year has reached an average of 3.5 million this year. There was a bit of calm in the market due to the departure of Syrians. Apartment prices will not rise much further. There will not be rent increases either. It will continue like this for a while. In the future, if there is demand for apartments, there might be slight increases. But for now, rents will remain stable for a while."

Abdullah Kılıç, who stated that the expected drop in rental prices did not occur, said, "With the departure of Syrians to their country, an expectation arose among citizens that house rents would drop, but this expectation was not met. They started to increase more and more. Since Gaziantep is a metropolis, there is migration here from our surrounding provinces every day. For this reason, there is a housing problem. Because of the housing problem, there is a rent increase every day. There is no decline. Even though the Syrians have left, because migration is still coming, rents just won't drop. Not only has there been no change in rental prices, but on the contrary, there have been increases. People no longer want detached houses. Newlywed couples want to move into houses with natural gas. Elderly people also want to move into houses with natural gas. Even though detached houses are empty, there has been no drop in prices. On the contrary, there has been an even greater rise in apartments. In previous years, 2+1 houses were around 12 thousand TL, while this year they are around 14-15 thousand TL. 3+1 houses were around 15 thousand TL last year, while now they are 18-19 thousand TL."