Home sales increase by 6.8 percent year-on-year in August

ISTANBUL

Home sales in Türkiye increased 6.8 percent on an annual basis in August, reflecting a strong demand across the country, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Sept. 16.

A total of 143,319 homes changed hands during the month, up from 142,858 units sold in July, with Istanbul leading the market, having sold 21,814 units.

The capital Ankara followed with 12,419 sales, while the Aegean city of Izmir recorded 7,695 sales.

New home sales climbed 4.8 percent year-on-year to 43,916 units, while existing home sales jumped 7.8 percent to 99,403 units.

Mortgage-financed sales surged 45.2 percent in August compared to a year earlier, totaling 19,712 homes and representing 13.8 percent of all transactions.

The latest data, however, point to a slowdown in the pace of annual growth in home sales. The annual increases in home sales were 12.4 percent in July, a staggering 56.6 percent in April and 35.8 percent in June.

On the other hand, sales to foreign buyers saw a year-on-year decline, with 1,810 homes sold to non-Turkish citizens — a 19.8 percent decrease from last year.

Russians, Iranians and Germans accounted for the highest number of foreign purchases in August.

For the first eight months of 2025, total house sales reached 978,070 units, marking a 21.3 percent increase over the same period in 2024, TÜİK said.

Over the same period, home sales to foreign nationals totaled a little more than 13,000, marking a 13.2 percent decline year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank reported on Sept. 16 that in August, the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) rose 2.5 percent month-on-month, accelerating from 0.98 percent in July, and recorded an annual increase of 31.4 percent in nominal terms, easing from 32.87 percent in the previous month. However, the index showed an annual decrease of 1.2 percent in real terms.

In Istanbul, residential property prices climbed 30.2 percent year-on-year, while the increases were 41.1 percent in Ankara and 31.9 percent in İzmir.

The RPPI for new dwellings increased by 30.96 percent in nominal terms in August, slowing from 34.47 percent in July, while the monthly rise accelerated from 1.11 percent to 3.28 percent.

The index for existing dwellings advanced 31.99 percent annually (32.57 percent in July) and 2.64 percent monthly (1.02 percent in July) in August, according to the bank’s data.