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House sales to foreigners in Turkey jumped by 81.7 percent in June year-on-year, although the amount foreigners are required to pay for a piece of real estate to be eligible for Turkish citizenship increased from $250,000 to $400,000 in April, local media reported on Tuesday, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
Changes to a regulation on the requirements for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by means of investment require foreigners to pay at least $400,000 for a piece of property, instead of $250,000, on the condition of holding the property for three years, the Interior Ministry announced in April.
Despite the increase in the amount required for Turkish citizenship, home sales to foreigners in Turkey surged by 81.7 percent in June, with 8,630 houses sold to foreign nationals last month.
TurkStat data also showed that sales to foreigners made up 5.7 percent of the overall house sales in the country, with Russian nationals remaining at the top of the list with 1,887 houses bought in June, an increase from 1,275 in May. They were followed by Iranians and Iraqis, who bought 987 and 807 houses in Turkey last month, respectively.
İstanbul was the most popular city for foreign buyers, with 3,906 house sales in June. İstanbul was followed by Antalya with 2,534 and Mersin with 428.
Wealthy Russians are pouring money into real estate in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, seeking a financial haven following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions, many property companies say.
In Turkey 150,509 houses were sold overall last month, up 11.7 percent from the same month of 2021, which was recorded as the lowest rate of increase since September, local media said.