In August, home sales in Türkiye reached this year’s highest level at more than 122,000. Home sales, however, declined by 1.1 per cent from August last year. Mortgaged sales were down 26 per cent year-on-year to 16,375, accounting for 13 per cent of all home sales.

“High prices and problems with accessing loans appear to be the main reasons for the annual decline in home sales,” commented Görkem Öğüt, the general manager of Endeksa.

Access to housing became more difficult as interest rates have risen, he added. “We do not expect a significant decline in home prices in the upcoming period as long as the increase in construction costs and the supply-demand imbalance in the housing market continue,” Öğüt said.

More than 122,000 homes were sold in Türkiye last month, marking the highest level of sales this year.

Istanbul was the hottest property market in Türkiye in August. More than 14,000 homes changed hands, making up 14 per cent of all homes sold in the country. Ankara ranked second at 11,000 sales, followed by İzmir at 6,500.

TÜİK data also showed that foreigners bought 3,000 homes in Türkiye last month, pointing to a 42 per cent decline from a year ago.

Foreign homebuyers’ favourite city was Istanbul, where they purchased more than 1,000 properties. In Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, 919 homes were sold to foreign nationals.

Popular tourist destination Antalya has seen an influx of Russians and Ukrainians since the start of the war between the two countries.

Russians topped the list of foreign homebuyers as they bought 733 residential properties in Türkiye last month. Iranians and Iraqis ranked second and third at 342, and 141 respectively. Ukrainians bought 135 homes in the country in August.