Real estate in Turkey: New restriction on real estate purchases of foreigners

The Directorate General of Migration Management had previously raised the minimum limit for real estate sales to foreigners wanting to obtain citizenship from $250,000 to $400,000. While foreign real estate purchases decreased by 42% in September, the authority has now raised the minimum limit for real estate sales for residence purposes to $200,000 from $75,000.

Following the increase of the minimum limit for obtaining citizenship through real estate purchases from $250,000 to $400,000 last year, the limit for real estate sales for residence purposes has also been raised.

As of October 16, 2023, the minimum limit for real estate that foreigners will acquire in order to obtain a residence permit has been increased from $75,000 to $200,000.

A Property Valuation Report Will Be Required

A real estate expert stated the following in his statement regarding the new minimum limit:

For real estate purchase (acquisition) transactions with a purchase date of October 16, 2023, and beyond, in short-term residence permit applications for real estate purposes, a minimum of $200,000 equivalent to Turkish Lira based on the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on the day the title deed is obtained, using the selling rate for foreign currency, for all cities, is required. For title deeds acquired after October 16, 2023, the real estate valuation report will not be accepted, and the sale price on the title deed will be taken into account.

Providing information about the scope of the regulation, he added, “This practice applies regardless of the type of application (initial/transition/renewal). Applications for real estate acquired before October 16, 2023, are not covered by this practice. For real estate acquired between April 26, 2022, and October 16, 2023, the requirement is $75,000 for metropolitan cities and $50,000 for other cities, and a real estate valuation report will continue to be requested for these applications.”

It had been raised to $400,000 following protests

With the last regulation on June 13, 2022, foreigners who purchased real estate worth $400,000 gained the right to apply directly for Turkish citizenship.

As known, the price required for real estate purchases for citizenship had been reduced from $1 million to $250,000 starting from September 2018. In response to protests, it was increased to $400,000 last year.

Real estate sales to foreigners in September had decreased by 42% and were limited to 2,930 properties. During this period, the share of sales to foreigners in total property sales was 2.9%. In the January-September period, real estate sales to foreigners decreased by 43.5% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 28,064 properties.

Foreigners purchased an average of around 50,000 properties annually between 2018 and 2022. In June 2020, the number of properties purchased by foreigners increased by 185% to 4,826 compared to June of the previous year. In the first six months of 2021, the number of properties purchased exceeded 20,000. Real estate sales to foreigners broke records in 2022, exceeding 68,000, up from 46,000 in 2019. (ekonomim)