Russians top foreign buyers of property in NATO state  

Russians topped the list of foreign buyers of real estate in Türkiye in July, the Turkish statistics agency TUIK reported this week.  

A total of 109,000 apartments were sold in Türkiye last month, up 16.7% from the same month last year, the data showed. Of this number, 2,801 properties were purchased by foreigners.    

Russians bought 772 apartments, topping the list of foreign buyers in July, unseating Iranian (272) and Iraqi (204) nationals, who ranked second and third. Antalya, Istanbul and Mersin were the most popular locales for foreign purchases, according to the report.     

Earlier data showed that Russian nationals tripled home purchases in Türkiye in 2022, after sanctions prompted them to stop investing in Western countries.     

Real estate prices in Türkiye have more than doubled in nominal terms since last May due to spiraling inflation, according to the country’s central bank. The Turkish authorities have pledged to rein in soaring rental prices and are reportedly discussing introducing a tax for owners of empty apartments.     

The country’s tourism minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, earlier linked the growing number of Russian homeowners in the country with a decline in demand for hotels as many tourists preferred owning their own apartments to renting expensive short-term accommodation.

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