Apartment rental prices in İstanbul are on the rise, with August rents averaging TL 1,710 ($340) a month compared to previous months of this year, according to reports in the local media.
The hike in rents in August is primarily due to the Turkish lira’s drastic loss in value since May, the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
The report also indicates that rents in İstanbul vary considerably among districts, as in Arnavutköy the average is around $150 and in districts such as Beşiktaş and Sarıyer the amount goes up to $700.
The average rent now surpasses the minimum wage, Cumhuriyet said.
In line with Turkish regulations, rent increases are limited to the compound producer price index (PPI) of the previous 12 months. The annual PPI in August increased dramatically to 17.41 percent as announced by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on Friday.
Compared to other world cities, rental prices in Istanbul are low as monthly rents in Paris are around $1,250, in London $2,000 and in New York $3,000. This is also related to the consecutive value losses of the lira against the US dollar.
According to a report in the Habertürk daily, in the first half of 2018 more than 640,000 residences changed hands, a 1.3 percent decline compared to the same period last year.
The decline was more significant in the second quarter of the year, with uncertainties arising from a decision to hold snap elections as well as the deteriorating condition of the Turkish economy, the report said.
Faced with this negative domestic outlook, Turkish contractors are gravitating towards construction projects in overseas markets. In the first half of 2018, projects taken on abroad were valued at $9.2 billion, while the number stood at $15 billion in last year in total.