Sales growth of 223%: Russians sweep away property in Turkey for the sake of obtaining citizenship

During the same period last year, Russians purchased 2,124 properties in Turkey, and this year 6,877 transactions were made with their participation.

Yekaterina Maksimova

The peak of purchases came in June, when Russian citizens purchased 1,887 apartments and houses in Turkey.

In total, the Russians accounted for 17.3% of transactions in the Turkish real estate market. Square meters in Turkey were also actively bought by citizens of Iran (13.3% or 5,315 transactions), Iraq was in third place (11% or 4,405 transactions).

Russian citizens are more likely to buy property directly in Istanbul, and apartments in the coastal area of Bodrum are also in demand. "The main goal of such a purchase is to obtain Turkish citizenship (90% of requests): for this, the cost of housing should be at least $400,000," said Marina Shalaeva, regional director for foreign real estate and private investment at Knight Frank Russia.

According to Knight Frank, residential property prices in Turkey have risen by an average of 160% this year. Affected not only rush demand. "This growth is due to the high level of inflation in the country and the lack of liquid supply caused by the high cost of construction. Taking into account inflation, the real increase in real estate prices averages 46% per year. Among the cities, Istanbul demonstrated the largest increase in housing prices (+ 185% per year) , Ankara (+165%) and Izmir (+151%)," Knight Frank analysts say.