The Turkish Minister of Economy has announced that his country is set to grant citizenship to foreigners who invest in its property market.
The groundbreaking announcement revealed the country looks set to follow in the footsteps of Portugal and Cyprus and launch its own ‘Golden Visa’ scheme, a move that could revolutionise the Turkish property market.
Minister Nihat Zeybekci stated the intention by Turkey to grant citizenship to those foreigners who impart a certain level of investment in the country’s property industry, suggesting levels of investment would be around the US$500,000 to US$1 million mark.
With the success of the Portuguese Golden Visa scheme that began in 2012 and has since amassed €1.47 billion of investment, €1.33 billion of which was via property purchase, it is easy to see why this would be a welcome move for the country.
Compounding the notion that the Arab nation is focussed on expanding the already flourishing property market, the government has made its intention to expand overall foreign investment clear, aiming to take figures to groundbreaking US$10 billion levels.
The knock-on effect of the proposed scheme to the property sector and those who operate in it, as well as to the country’s coffers as a whole, is clear and one that has been welcomed by leading property agent Universal21.
Adil Yaman, Director of the largest management company based in Istanbul, explained: “Turkey, and the country’s biggest city of Istanbul, is widely lauded as a cultural melting pot and this is certainly – increasingly – the case in the property market.
“In recent years growing numbers of external buyers have looked to purchase property in this wonderful country, and the exciting new announcement by the Minister looks set to escalate this to impressive levels in 2016.
“Benefitting individuals looking to purchase in a growing market, providing welcome advantages alongside their property purchase, as well as the economic benefits for Turkey as a whole, this is a positive move from the government for a country open to, and welcoming of, foreign investment.”
And this is already being reflected in the current levels of foreigners buying in Turkey. The most recent figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) have shown that such sales grew by 19 percent from January to September this year compared with the same period the previous year.
There are certain locations even within the country that are witnessing far greater growth levels.
September saw Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul overtake Antalya as the top Turkish location for house sales to foreigners, registering a growth of 26.1 percent from January to September 2015 compared with 2014 figures.
Universal21 is providing new projects in response to this growing demand in the city for high quality, affordable housing. Having just launched their new project, 7th Avenue, the leading agent is already seeing impressive interest levels.
Situated in the middle class neighbourhood of Old Beylikdüzü, in close proximity to local amenities and restaurants, a 20-minute drive from Ataturk international airport, a short drive from the beach and a 10-minute walk from the area’s major shopping centre, Marmara Park, 7th Avenue is perfectly located.
Comprised of 13 floors of 260 apartments with a choice of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom, there is also an array of facilities. Studios are keenly priced from £30,000 / US$51,000, one-bed apartments are priced from £44,500 / €71,000. Two-bed apartments have price tags from £62,000 / €104,500.
These are pre-launch prices and are 20 percent discounted from current price list which is to be implemented from the beginning of the New Year.
