A 17% Increase was Recorded in Housing Sales. The Average House Price was ₺3 Million 220 Thousand.
Endeksa, which offers real estate value calculations using big data analysis and artificial intelligence methods and thus allows users to sell real estate safely, announced the housing market data for February 2024. Accordingly, house sales prices increased by 63% across the country in the last year. The average housing price across Turkiye was ₺3 million 220 thousand 111, and the value on a square meter basis was ₺24 thousand 581. The return period for investments made in the housing market is 15 years.
In February, the number of house sales across Turkiye increased by 17% compared to the same month of the previous year and reached 93 thousand 902.
While new house sales decreased, credit sales increased
In February, 8 thousand 827 houses were sold with mortgages in Turkiye, an increase of 49% compared to the previous month. When we look at the annual change in credit sales, it is determined that this market has shrunk by 49%. Mortgaged house sales constitute 9% of total sales activities as of February 2024.
During the past month, 28 thousand 594 new houses were sold in Turkiye and these sales constituted 30% of the total. 53 thousand 857 new houses sold since the beginning of the year reveal that 2024 brings a 6% increase compared to the previous year.
Market share of second-hand sales dropped to 5%
The second-hand house sales market increased in both monthly and annual perspectives in February. In the second month of the year, when a total of 65 thousand 308 second-hand houses were sold, an increase of 19% compared to January and 15% compared to February 2023 was recorded. The share of second-hand house sales in total was 70%.
The decrease in housing sales to foreigners in the real estate sector, which has been going on for a while, continued in February. This type of sales decreased by 10% compared to the previous month and by 45% compared to the same month of the previous year, and foreigners purchased a total of 1,846 houses in the country. According to the latest data, the market share of sales to foreigners is around 2%.
The barrier to housing sales is credit
Endeksa Founding Partner and General Manager Gorkem Ogut stated that when the sales numbers of January and February 2023 are compared to the same period in 2024, there is a 2% decrease, but this difference is due to mortgage sales. “If there were no obstacle to housing sales such as credit problems, we would be able to talk about a 3% increase in total. On the other hand, we are still far from meeting the need in housing production. When we consider all these data, we see a market that has been holding back and has difficulty moving since May 2023, but has not been able to gain an advantage against inflation and construction costs. In addition, when we consider the supply shortage in housing, the increase in interest rates, the index of prices to the construction cost, and most importantly, the bargaining power provided by cash, we can say that it is the right time to buy a house.”
The highest sales took place in Istanbul with 16 thousand houses, house prices in the city are over ₺4 million
When the sales activities in the market were examined on a provincial basis, it was noted that the largest share belonged to Istanbul with 17% of the volume and a total of 16 thousand 344 houses sold. Istanbul is followed by the capital Ankara with a 9% share and 8 thousand 300 sales. In third place is Izmir, where 5 thousand 168 houses changed hands in the last month and its market share is 5%.
When Turkiye’s three largest cities are considered in terms of value increase, Ankara ranks first with an increase of 78%, according to Endeksa data. The average house sales price in the capital was determined as ₺2 million 652 thousand 520. The average sales price per square meter of a house in Ankara is ₺20 thousand 404. Houses in Istanbul and Izmir gained value at the same rate in February: 59%. As of the previous month, the average square meter price in Istanbul was ₺37 thousand 582 and the sales price was ₺4 million 321 thousand 930. The average housing sales price in Izmir is ₺3 million 904 thousand 250, and the value per square meter is ₺31 thousand 234.
Turkiye’s most valued province is Hatay with 101% increase in worth
According to Endeksa data, among the top 30 cities where the most houses were sold in Turkiye in February, the first three cities that recorded the highest annual value increase were Hatay, Erzurum and Muğla.
The annual value increase recorded in Hatay is at 101%. The average residential square meter sales price in the city was determined as ₺18 thousand 807, and the housing sales price was determined as ₺2 million 896 thousand 278. Erzurum ranks second after Hatay with a 94% increase in value. The sales price per square meter in Erzurum is ₺12 thousand 57 and the average housing value is ₺1 million 941 thousand 177. In Mugla, the value of houses increased by 89% in the last year. The sales price per square meter of housing in the city was ₺56 thousand 823, and the average housing price was ₺7 million 443 thousand 813.
“Stagnation in sales has begun to slow down the pace of appreciation.”
Endeksa Founding Partner and General Manager Gorkem Ogut, in his statement evaluating the February data, pointed out that the number of house sales started to increase again in February and said: “We have been seeing a decrease in the number of sales for a while due to the increase in house prices and the difficulty in accessing credit. We see that sales numbers started to increase again as of February.
When we look at the change in housing prices, it is possible to say that the increase has slowed down. According to Endeksa data, house sales prices across Turkiye increased by 1.89% in February, while last year we were seeing a monthly increase of 7-8% in the same period. When we look at the annual change, we see that it is 63% across Turkiye, this rate exceeded hundreds of percent last year. It is possible to interpret the slowdown in prices as the stagnation in sales volumes not being reflected in the values.
TURKSTAT announced that there was a 68% increase in the construction cost index in January compared to last year. On an annual basis, there is an increase of 53% in the material index and 103% in the labor index. Considering the increase in housing production costs, it does not seem possible to expect a decrease in prices in the coming period. Of course, new credit opportunities that may arise can seriously change the conditions of access to housing. I recommend real estate investors to direct their investments with expert real estate consultants who benefit from a source that provides independent data and analysis such as Endeksa in housing sales and purchases.”
Source: Emlakdergisi / Prepared by Irem Yildiz