Turkey Housing Market, Sales to Foreigners 2016 to 2024

Key points

The chart tracks homes sold to foreign buyers in Turkey (Türkiye) from 2016 to 2024, as a 12 month rolling total, split into Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and all other buyers.
Sales grew from 2018, dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and peaked in 2022, before falling back to roughly their 2016 level by the end of the series.
Russian buyers rose from 745 to 5,172 homes a year, about seven times as many. Iraqi buyers fell from 4,296 to 1,195.
Istanbul house prices stayed below $900 per square metre from August 2018 to January 2022, then reached $1,180 in June 2022 and $1,820 in May 2023, according to the chart’s notes.
Econovis puts the peak at 74,300 homes in the 12 months to June 2022 and the low point at 23,800 by October 2024 [1].

The Turkey housing market chart in text

Title: “Boom and Bust: Foreign Investment in Turkiye’s Housing Market (2016-2024)”. Chart heading: House Sale to Foreigners (Units, 12-Month Rolling Sum). The chart is a streamgraph: four coloured layers stacked around a central line, so the shape widens when sales rise. The x axis runs from 2016 to 2024.

Buyer group (colour)	Start of series, 2016	End of series, 2024
Russian (blue)	745	5,172
Iranian (green)	1,985	2,166
Iraqi (red)	4,296	1,195
Rest of the World (navy)	16,135	15,276
Total (our sum)	23,161	23,809

Annotations on the chart:

2018-08 to 2022-01: House Prices* below $900/SQM
2020: COVID-19 Pandemic
2022-02: Russian invasion of Ukraine
2022-06: House Price* of $1,180/SQM
2023-05: House Price* of $1,820/SQM

Footnote: * Istanbul Housing Unit Price. Footer: Source of Primary Data: Turkish Statistical Institute; www.econovis.net; @econovisuals; Econovis “EV” logo.

What drove the boom and the bust

Econovis’s notes on the chart, published on 4 January 2025, describe three phases [1]. Foreign house sales rose from 24,700 homes in the 12 months to June 2018 to 47,400 by February 2020. After a fall during the pandemic they recovered strongly and peaked at 74,300 in the 12 months to June 2022. From July 2022 sales declined steadily, to 23,800 by October 2024.

Econovis names political instability in Iraq, economic uncertainty in Iran and the war in Ukraine as key drivers, alongside Turkey’s comparatively affordable housing and government incentives such as citizenship through property investment. It says these drew more than $50 billion of foreign investment. It links the downturn to property prices that doubled in US dollar terms and to Turkey’s high inflation [1].

Who bought the most homes

Across 2018 to October 2024, Econovis counts Russians as the largest foreign buyers with 44,500 homes, 14% of foreign purchases. Iranians bought 40,500 (13%) and Iraqis 40,300 (13%) [1]. The chart shows how the order changed over time: Iraqi demand was strongest in the early boom and fell away sharply, while the Russian layer widened after February 2022.

Econovis also notes that the same policies that attracted foreign money added to house price inflation, which created problems for local buyers [1].

Notes on this infographic

End date. The x axis runs to 2024, but the last values (total 23,809 by our sum) match the 23,800 that Econovis gives for October 2024 [1], so the series appears to end in October 2024 rather than December.
Rolling totals. Every point is the total for the previous 12 months, which smooths out monthly swings. The start values are the 12 month total at the first month shown.
Prices are for Istanbul only. The dollar per square metre figures in the annotations are Istanbul unit prices, not a national average.
Spelling. The graphic writes “Turkiye” without the dotted capital. The country’s official English name is Türkiye; this page uses Turkey, the common UK form, in running text.

Questions about foreign home sales in Turkey

How many homes do foreigners buy in Turkey each year?

Foreign buyers bought 23,800 homes in Turkey in the 12 months to October 2024, according to Econovis [1]. That was down from a peak of 74,300 in the 12 months to June 2022 [1]. The chart, based on Turkish Statistical Institute data, shows sales falling back to roughly their 2016 level, when the 12 month total stood at 23,161.

Which nationality buys the most property in Turkey?

Russians were the largest foreign buyers of homes in Turkey from 2018 to October 2024, with 44,500 homes, 14% of foreign purchases [1]. Iranians bought 40,500 (13%) and Iraqis 40,300 (13%) [1]. Iraqi demand was strongest in the early boom and fell away sharply, while Russian buyers rose from 745 homes a year at the start of the series to 5,172 at the end.

Why did foreign home sales in Turkey fall after 2022?

Econovis connects the downturn to property prices that doubled in US dollar terms and to Turkey's high inflation [1]. Sales declined steadily from July 2022, to 23,800 homes in the 12 months to October 2024 [1]. The chart's notes show Istanbul prices staying below $900 per square metre until January 2022, then reaching $1,180 in June 2022 and $1,820 in May 2023.

What drove foreign property buying in Turkey?

Econovis names political instability in Iraq, economic uncertainty in Iran and the war in Ukraine as key drivers of the boom [1]. It also points to Turkey's comparatively affordable housing and government incentives such as citizenship through property investment, which it says drew more than $50 billion of foreign investment [1]. It notes that the same policies added to house price inflation, which created problems for local buyers [1].