Turkey Property News

Why Buy Property in Turkey?

Turkey Highlights

Turkey enjoys a very lucrative tourism industry with over twenty-five million visitors to the country annually. The varied landscape of the country offers a diversity of attractions to the tourist and its remnants of early civilizations hold much appeal for visitors. This modern country is well known for its outstanding beaches that are gently lapped by the turquoise water of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

Although Turkey may seem to some people as an eastern destination, the country has a very western and solid infrastructure. And with years of experience in the tourist industry, the Turkish authorities know precisely what is required to service their thriving tourism industry. The country has a variety of climates, but it is interesting to note that their summers are much longer than that of any other European destination.

Golfing in Turkey is a fast growing industry, but is presently restricted to the Antalya region, and as more golf is being played and demand increases, the industry is set to grow manifold. The sightseeing potential is so immense that it would probably take months to see everything from the mosques of Istanbul to the hot springs at Pammukele. Bird watching is extremely popular in the Belek area, and the small ports and islands off the coastline make water sports and boating extremely popular pastimes.

Being a moderate Muslim country, the Turkish people are very warm and friendly to visitors, and in fact, many Turkish people only keep holiday homes in the country while living in other European countries, like Germany, where three million Turkish people live and work only returning home to holiday.

The Rise in Property Investments in Turkey

Recent reforms in Turkey means that the country will, very likely, join the European Union. And although this sounds like a long way away, but by 2015, they should be enjoying membership status. At present, the cost of housing in Turkey is very inexpensive but property prices are increasing, and with sustained growth over the coming years in the wake of impending EU membership, property owners in Turkey are expecting huge growth in returns on investment in the next five to ten years. Given the fact that when eventually the country is taken under the wings of the EU, property prices will increase dramatically with a huge surge in tourism and other benefits that come along with EU membership.

Take for example, a property that is purchase for an amount of £60,000; with the sustained growth period that Turkey is enjoying, in five years, the investment of £60,000 could be worth £120,000, which is a massive 100% return on the initial investment!

A number of key factors point to the reason why investment in the Turkish property market makes sense:

The economic growth of Turkey is currently very close to that of the countries, like China and India that are the rising stars in terms of economy. Turkey stands at 22 nd position in the latest ranking on the size of economy worldwide.
Turkey has a large and cheap workforce available that is extremely competitive in terms of industrial output as well as the cost base.
Flights to and from the country are becoming more regular and cheaper. For the UK property investors, Turkey is only a short haul flight away.

Many property investors are thronging Turkey and purchasing property at the current low prices, entering the property rental market and watching as the return on their investment grows.

Turkey also offers some additional perks to the property investor. One such perk is that there is no capital gains tax if the property is sold after four years, and this is a tax incentive that is of huge potential interest to property investors all across the world. If however, the property is sold before the four-year period, the standard rate of income tax will be levied against it, usually 15 – 35%, which is calculated on the disparity between the purchase and selling price.

Turkish real estate market is also a hot destination with “buy to let” investors. It is often a concern that an emerging market country could be a risky place to invest in “buy to let” properties, but this certainly does not hold any ground for the Turkish properties. The country has already got a very well established and rapidly growing tourism market, and therefore, “buy to Let” property investor would not have to wait around, hoping that the tourism industry will grow and he can realise his return on investment steadily. It’s already a mature market ready for reaping maximum benefits on real estate investments.