House sales down by 4 percent in June

House sales in Turkey decreased by 4 percent in June this year compared to the same month in 2016, totaling 106,187 according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Friday. In terms of house sales for June, Istanbul had the highest share, with 19.2 percent, followed by Ankara with 11 percent and İzmir with 6.4 percent.

Mortgaged house sales throughout Turkey totaled 36,371, a decrease of 10.2 percent, over the same period. House sales with mortgage were a 34.3 percent share of all house sales in Turkey. On the other hand, non-mortgaged house sales in Turkey totaled 69,816, decreasing 0.5 percent in the same period.

First house sales in Turkey totaled 49,354, declining by 3.6 percent. First house sales represented a 46.5 percent share of all house sales in Turkey.

A total of 1,543 houses were sold to foreigners, which means they amount decreased by 31.6 percent in the same period. İstanbul was the leading province, with 507 sales in June. The runners up were Antalya with 381 house sales, Mersin with 97 house sales, Aydın with 84 house sales, Bursa with 80 house sales and Muğla with 58 house sales.

Iraqi citizens bought 214 houses from Turkey in June. In order of amount of houses sold, after Iraq were Russia with 114 house sales, Saudi Arabia with 112 house sales, Kuwait with 110 house sales and Afghanistan with 107 house sales.