Shock decline in housing sales in Turkey: 5.2% decrease in June

In June, there was a 5.2 per cent decrease in house sales in Turkey and the total number of sales decreased to 79 thousand 313. According to the data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute, house sales decreased compared to the same period last year. The provinces with the highest number of house sales were Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, while the least sales were in Ardahan, Hakkari, Tunceli and Bayburt.

In the first half of the year, house sales decreased by 3.7 per cent to 545 thousand 74. Mortgaged house sales decreased by 49.4 per cent to 6 thousand 813 in June and these sales accounted for 8.6 per cent of total sales. In January-June period, mortgaged house sales decreased by 57.7 percent to 51 thousand 415.

On the other hand, 1,547 of the mortgaged sales were recorded in June and 12,176 of them were recorded as first-hand sales in the first half of the year. Other house sales increased by 3.3 per cent in June and reached 72 thousand 500 and had a share of 91.4 per cent in total sales. In January-June period, other house sales increased by 11.1 percent to 493 thousand 659.

In June, first-hand house sales decreased by 1.8 percent to 25 thousand 425, while second-hand house sales decreased by 6.7 percent to 53 thousand 888. In the first half of the year, second-hand house sales decreased by 5.8 per cent to 371 thousand 750.

House sales to foreigners decreased by 45.1 per cent to 1,440 in June. The provinces with the highest number of these sales were Antalya, Istanbul and Mersin. In the first half of the year, house sales to foreigners decreased by 45.7 per cent to 10 thousand 461. Russian Federation citizens were among the foreigners who bought the most houses in June, followed by Iranian and Ukrainian citizens.