Turkish house sales increased 5.1 percent year-on-year in August after seven consecutive months of declines, official data showed on Wednesday, following the central bank’s move in July to slash its key interest rate to boost the economy, Reuters reported.
Turkey’s central bank cut its key repo rate by a more than expected 425 basis points on July 25 in its first step away from the emergency stance adopted during last year’s currency crisis. Last week, the bank cut the rate by another 325 basis points to 16.5 percent.
Housing sales with mortgages, which constitute more than 30 percent of total sales in the sector in August, jumped 168 percent year-on-year, the data showed.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said home sales totaled 110,538 in August. In July, sales had fallen 17.5 percent year-on-year as an economic slowdown and high mortgage rates continued to hit the property market.