House sales in Türkiye declined by 2.1% year-over-year in March, according to data that also showed Iranians were the second biggest foreign homebuyers.

A total of 113,367 houses were sold last month, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

The figure compares with 115,788 sales recorded a year ago.

From January through March, residential property sales stood at 349,396 units, down 0.3% year-over-year, the data showed.

Istanbul led the market last month with 21,665 sales, followed by Ankara with 10,236 and Izmir with 7,278.

New home sales rose 1.3% year-over-year to 35,725 units, while second-hand sales fell 3.6% to 77,642 units.

Mortgage-backed sales jumped 35.9% to 25,978, accounting for 22.9% of total transactions.

Sales to foreigners declined 20% year-over-year to 1,353 units.

By nationality, the highest number of houses were sold to citizens of Russia with 229 units, followed by Iran with 130, and Iraq with 84.

Iranians have been among the top homebuyers in Türkiye for years, but the focus has centered on the impact of the war that started on Feb. 28 after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

The sides agreed to a two-week cease-fire last week and are weighing a return to Pakistan for further talks as early as ​the coming ​weekend.

Türkiye, a NATO member and neighbor of ​Iran, has been in close touch with ​the U.S., Iran and Pakistan, and ⁠has repeatedly called for the fighting to stop.