Property in Turkey
Like Spain 30 years ago, Turkey's low property prices are attracting more than just holidaymakers – Brits are now lining up to buy holiday homes there. The southern resorts of Fethiye and Marmaris were first in on the action but we're now turning our attention to the northern Bodrum and Cesme peninsulas
Prices for Turkey Properties from £30,500
Key facts
- Population: 70,414,000
- Capital: Ankara
- Approx. exchange rate: £1 = TRY2.3 (Turkish New Lira); €1 = 1.7 TRY
- Visas: Yes, for up to 3 months
- Time difference: GMT +2
- Flight time from UK: 4 hours
- Major airports: Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Istanbul, Izmir
- Dialling code: 00 90
Property in Turkey
The Market: Turkish delights
They used to say that prices in Turkey were the same as in Spain… if you knocked a nought off. But the days of the £10,000 beachside apartment are over; nowadays you might have to pay £20,000. Brits have discovered the beauty of this huge, historic country, three times bigger than the UK and with 7,000 kilometres of coastline.
And newly introduced rules affecting mortgages merely add to Turkey’s appeal. The Turkish government has at last opened up the market to more property buyers and as of January 2008, investors will be able to take out variable rate Turkish mortgages over terms of up to 30 years. Previously, most purchases had to be carried out in cash. Buy to let investors are busy licking their lips at the thought of the 25 million-plus tourists who flood in every year, and Jane Griffiths, of Mortgage Introducer website, comments: "The current economic climate in Turkey is strong and actively favours foreign investment in the property market, while most experts predict it is now sitting on the brink of a property boom.”
Brit buyers – and holiday makers – have traditionally headed for the northern Aegean coast, with British and Irish holiday home-owners sticking to resorts such as Marmaris, Fethiye and Bodrum, but many buyers are also now considering points above and below of these old favourites including Alanya, and Dalaman to the south and Kushadasi to the north.
Talk to any Turkish developer and they’ll insist that they’ve learnt lessons from other countries and will not be allowing crass over-development, though in parts of the country they seem to be coming perilously close! However, if a £40,000 three-bed villa amongst other Brits is exactly what you’re looking for you have a choice of resorts. For others, who might traditionally have headed for France or Tuscany, there is unspoilt beauty around every corner. Like the Cesme peninsula. Just an hour’s drive from Izmir, with regular flights to the UK, this stretch of coast is so close to the Greek islands that many use Izmir as a closer airport than going via Greece. A new development of golf courses and pretty homes is going up, based around the village of Alacati. Anyone who doubts the classy, European appeal of Turkey should visit this picture-perfect village, popular with visitors from Istanbul. With all this building, off-plan and new-builds are most popular. It is difficult to predict whether the general house inflation can continue, or whether over-supply will force prices down.
But either way it can’t be long before those same people who have been buying up every gorgeous old finca in the Balearics realise there are equally beautiful renovation projects in Turkey too; at a tenth of the price.
Search for 1000s of Turkish properties online at www.aplaceinthesun.com
