Turkey's housing sales decline by 21.4% in March

Housing sales across Turkey declined by 21.4% compared to the same month last year, reaching a total of 105,476 units, according to data from Turkey's Statistical Institute (TUIK) for the month of March.

During the period of January to March, housing sales recorded a decrease of 11.5% compared to the same period last year, totaling 283,215 units.

In March, Istanbul had the highest share in housing sales with 18,166 units sold, accounting for 17.2% of the total sales. Ankara followed with 12,023 units sold and a share of 11.4%, and Antalya with 6,120 units sold and a share of 5.8%. On the other hand, the provinces with the lowest number of housing sales were determined as Ardahan with 23 units, Hakkari with 54 units, and Bayburt with 69 units.

Mortgage-based housing sales across Turkey also experienced a decline of 16.5% in March compared to the same month last year, totaling 25,262 units. The share of mortgage-based sales in the overall housing sales stood at 24% according to the records.

The number of mortgage-based housing sales during the January-March period also decreased by 13.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of 58,822 units.

Housing sales to foreigners in Turkey also experienced a significant decline in March, dropping by 38.7% compared to the same month of the previous year, totaling 3,415 units. The share of housing sales to foreigners in the total housing sales for March was recorded as 3.2%.

Among the provinces with housing sales to foreigners, Antalya took the lead with 1,324 units sold. Istanbul followed with 1,090 units sold, and Mersin came in third with 240 units sold.