Pearls of Bosporus: Waterfront mansions for sale in high demand from foreigners

The recent volatility in the Turkish lira has also boosted interest in Istanbul's Bosporus waterfront mansions. Since the Ottoman era, they have been popular among the wealthy class, but nowadays they are being sold one after another. Currently, 60 waterfront mansions are on sale and Qataris are showing great interest in purchasing them. The prices start at $4.5 million and climb up to as high as $95 million. In addition to mansions, 40 waterfront apartments are also on sale and their prices range from $1.7 million to $12 million.

Depicted as the pearls of the Bosporus, the waterfront mansions are essential elements of the unmatched landscape of the Bosporus. Both shores of the Bosporus accommodate 600 mansions and 366 of them are historical buildings. Out of 60 on sale mansions, half of them are historical buildings.

Location, historical value and waterfront length are the crucial elements in pricing the mansions, the value of which reach $95 million. On the European shore, the mansions which are located in Bebek and Yeniköy neighborhoods are of the highest value. On the Anatolian shore, the highest prices are recorded in Vaniköy, Kandilli and Anadolu Hisarı.

Ayıkcan Real Estate Consultant Sinem Ayıkcan Yılmaz also stressed that foreigners show high demand for the Bosporus mansions. "Since the real estate properties are sold in Turkish lira, they are attractive for foreigners due to the recent volatility in the lira. The highest demand is observed in Arab customers, particularly from Qataris." She stated that the Qataris bought two very important mansions, one Kocataş Yalısı in the Sarıyer district of Istanbuıl and the other is Şehzade Burhaneddin Efendi Yalısı in the Yeniköy neighborhood. She also added that such historical buildings receive really high demand as they are very valuable and rare.

Boğaziçi Housing Directorate warns buyers to investigate the documents of the mansions, Yılmaz stated, because if the mansion is a historical building, the customer has to go to the Council of Monuments, which would determine if there is any breach of construction law for historical buildings.

Boğaziçi Housing Directorate applies strict rules not only for historical mansions on the Bosporus, but also all building along the coast. Event for a slight renovation, owners have to get a permit. If the buildings are of historical value, the Council of Monuments must also issue a permit for any changes made. In the Sarıyer district, there are 136 historical mansions in total while the Beykoz, Üsküdar and Beşiktaş districts have 109, 84 and 37 mansions, respectively.