Why “property for sale in Turkey” is trending again - And what investors need to know

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s housing market is back in the headlines. In May 2025 alone, 130,025 homes changed hands nationwide, a hefty 17.6 % jump on the same month last year, according to freshly released data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). Istanbul led with 22,103 sales, trailed by Ankara and Izmir. Foreigners bought 1,487 of those properties, a figure that has stabilized after 2024’s pull-back. 

Sales to non-Turkish buyers fell 11.5 % year-on-year in March 2025 to 574 units, yet Russians, Iranians and Ukrainians still topped the league table. Russians alone snapped up 275 homes that month, underscoring how geopolitical capital flows keep Turkey on the radar of investors seeking both second homes and currency hedges.

The slack left by foreign buyers is being absorbed internally. Full-year 2024 deliveries rose 20.6 % to 1.48 million units, even as overseas purchases dipped by almost a third. Analysts credit pent-up demand after a decade of credit-fuelled booms, quake-driven rebuilds in the south, and a 0 % VAT break for first-time buyers under 35. 

Headline prices remain buoyant. The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye’s quality-adjusted Residential Property Price Index jumped 31.95 % Y/Y in January 2025, outpacing the OECD average and keeping nominal gains in double digits for a fifth straight year. Yet stripped of Turkey’s notoriously high inflation, real appreciation has cooled, opening windows to bargain in euro or dollar terms. 

The Central Bank froze its benchmark rate at 46 % in June, pledging “prudent” tweaks meeting-by-meeting. That hawkish stance, paired with softening inflation—down to 35 % in May—has steadied the lira and convinced analysts that a gradual rate-cut cycle could begin by Q4 2025, lowering mortgage costs.

Turkey’s market has long resembled layered börek rather than a single “bubble.” Gulf investors chase beachside rentals in Antalya; Russian families park rubles in Alanya; EU retirees buy inland farmhouses; and domestic millennials hunt urban starter homes. Even if one layer cools—say, Gulf demand eases on oil-price dips—others crisp up under different heat sources such as citizenship incentives or urban-renewal subsidies. 

Record tourism receipts of $61.1 billion in 2024 pumped liquidity into hospitality assets and lifted rental yields along the Mediterranean coast. Antalya registered 15 million international arrivals last year, driving nightly Airbnb rates above €140 and nudging more investors toward buy-to-let condos. Tourism officials forecast a fresh revenue high in 2025 as Europe’s retirees extend shoulder-season stays. 

Foreign direct investment totaled $11.3 billion in 2024, with real estate capturing nearly 12 %. Industry insiders say deal flow in 2025 is neck-and-neck with last year, despite political noise, thanks to Türkiye’s 85-million-strong domestic market and EU-adjacent logistics corridors like the Middle Corridor rail link. 

Turkey’s earthquake-resilience push means 7 million residential units are slated for retrofit or rebuild by 2030, channeling billions into construction. CBRT economists project the housing stock will turn greener and denser, particularly along rail-linked corridors in Ankara, Izmir and the Marmara region. Combined with demographic momentum—median age 33 and household formation rising 1.6 % a year—supply pipelines should stay tight even if demand growth normalizes.

For buyers eyeing property for sale in Turkey—from sea-view villas in Kalkan to urban lofts in İzmir—Summer Homes curates turn-key options, supports the citizenship-by-investment process and offers euro-denominated payment plans to hedge currency swings. As always, due diligence is key: verify title deeds, earthquake insurance and municipal zoning before you sign.

This article was written in cooperation with Summer Homes