Several apartments in old buildings, especially the ones located in peripheral districts of Türkiye's tourist and economic hub – Istanbul, remained vacant due to fear of earthquakes following the pair of powerful tremors that struck the country more than two months ago, leaving thousands of people dead besides causing widespread infrastructural, agricultural damage.
For the past two months, old buildings – available for rent or sale – have been left unused due to earthquake concerns. Even though some landlords who had difficulty renting out their flats had lowered rents, the buildings remained vacant.
According to İhlas News Agency (İHA) reports on Monday, old buildings in coastal districts, known for their proximity to the fault line in Istanbul, such as Bakırköy and Zeytinburnu, were the ones most affected. Furthermore, it was noted that many residents had evacuated their homes after the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes.
Apartment owners, who have been renting homes since the past 30-40 years, have faced issues of renting out properties. At the same time, an increase in "For Rent" and "For Sale" advertisements, posted in the flats concerned, were visible on the streets of Bakırköy and Zeytinburnu districts.
According to real estate agents in the area, people's worries and fears grew after the Feb. 6 quakes while the demand for the buildings dropped despite a 10% decrease in renting prices.
Oğuzhan Okuklu, a real estate agent, noted that the rent prices of new buildings in Bakırköy are high and said, "Some of the old buildings are vacant. Old buildings are not preferred at the moment."
Reiterating that rents decreased by 10% compared to two months ago, Okuklu noted the rent, which stood at $519 (TL10,000), has been lowered by TL 1,000. However, "we find it very difficult to rent out old buildings," he said.
Underlining that the demand for old buildings decreased with the recent earthquakes, Okuklu said, "We have houses waiting (vacant) for two months. People are on panic mode due to reports of a potential earthquake in Istanbul. After the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, people left old buildings in Istanbul. In Bakırköy, there have been people, almost on each street, who vacated buildings."
Besides Zeytinburnu and Bakırköy, districts sitting on the European coastline between Sirkeci and Silivri, including Florya, Küçükçekmece, Avcılar, Beylikdüzü and Büyükçekmece are considered more risky due to their proximity to the fault line, as per experts.
