Turkey woos Gulf nationals as property investors

posted @ 12:00am, Monday 20 May 2013.

Dubai: Priding itself as the gateway between Asia and Europe, Turkey is successfully attracting Gulf nationals to its real estate sector.

Last year, the country changed the law to facilitate property investments by Gulf nationals, allowing them to buy properties by passports only and offering a one-year residency permit to foreign investors and their families.

The last eight months saw some 2,000 units being sold to investors from the Gulf region.

“Foreign investments are important to any country, one, for the diversification of the investors base, and two, you are opening up [your economy],” said Ahmet Kayhan, chief executive officer of Reidin.com, an international real estate information company focusing on emerging markets.

Opening up, in the case of Turkey, which has at present a balance deficit, will bring in foreign money that is required to further grow the Turkish economy, he noted in an interview with Gulf News.

The Turkish real estate sector, meanwhile, is already a vibrant one due to the “big local demand and strong local interest in it and the [high] percentage of young population of under 35 years old in the nearly 75 million population country”, Kayhan said.

On the other hand, Gulf states, which are rich in oil and gas, also have a high percentage of people under the age of 25.

Turkey has a strong interest in the Gulf region because “we see a great potential” to invest in the Turkish property sector, said Idris Demirhan, regional manager of Agaoglu in Dubai, a leading Turkish real-estate developer. Agaoglu opened an office in Dubai in March last year.

Turkey is interested in the Gulf region for many reasons, including religious and cultural bonds, coupled with a deep and long economic relationship, Demirhan explained in an interview with Gulf News.

“Politically, we are in the same region, and we are affected by each other... We are sharing same things and feelings, [there] are many things are in common,” he said.

Turkey’s geographical location, between Europe and Asia, green environment, moderate weather conditions and shopping malls are among the main factors behind choosing to invest in property. However, the number of Gulf nationals buying properties in Turkey is described as ‘minimal’ compared to the overall investors in the Turkish properties sector, experts said.

According to Kayhan, of the $558 million foreign investment in the Turkish property sector last year, less than $100 million was invested by Gulf nationals.

Westerners, mainly Europeans, constitute the highest foreigners buying properties in Turkey, with Germans and Britons topping the list. Westerners prefer coastal cities and towns to buy properties in and to use them as their summer [vacation] homes.

For the Gulf nationals, Turkish cities are expected to replace Paris and London in terms of property investments, said Demirhan.

“Because you can find in Istanbul whatever you can find in Europe and Asia, and it is very close [to the Gulf region],” he said. Also, Turkey is like a melting pot for different people coming from different cultures and backgrounds, he added.

According to Ozlem Gokse, vice chairman of the Turkish Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (Gyoder), Turkey attracted $2.5 billion (Dh9.2 billion) in foreign direct investment into real estate.

“We expect this to grow to $5 billion in the short term, eventually rising to $10 billion per annum in the long term,” he said.

Turkey’s economy grew at the second-fastest rate in the world in 2011 at 8.5 per cent, while Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data shows that the Turkish economy will be the bloc’s fastest-growing member in 2011-17, with average annual growth of 5.7 per cent.

According to some press reports, GDP (gross domestic product) per capita is set to rise from less than $11,000 at present to more tha $14,500 by 2016.

Turkey is one of the eight growth markets in the world along with Brazil, China, India, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Korea, said Kayhan.

“These eight countries are estimated to produce nearly 46 per cent of the world economy by 2050,” he said.

The real estate sector is also expected to grow fast in the next few years, while “the value of the property will be growing much higher than the rest of the world”, according to Kayhan.

Worldwide, Turkey, said Demirhan, is the second largest country witnessing construction work after China.

Source: www.gulfnews.com

REIDIN.com Turkey Real Estate Indices: April 2013 Results

posted @ 12:00am, Wednesday 15 May 2013.

May, 2013

REIDIN.com Turkey Residential Property Price Indices: April 2013 Results

The residential sales prices for existing homes increased 0.66% in Turkey overall, 0.10% in Adana, 0.28% in Ankara, 0.10% in Antalya, 0.10% in Bursa, 0.87% in Istanbul, 0.74% in Izmir and 0.21% in Kocaeli during April 2013.


The residential rental prices for existing homes increased 0.30% in Turkey overall, 0.52% in Adana, 0.20% in Ankara, 0.40% in Bursa and 0.47% in Istanbul. Prices decreased 0.20% in Antalya and 1.05% in Kocaeli. Prices were constant  in Izmir during April 2013.









REIDIN-GYODER New Home Price Index: April 2013 Results
According to April 2013 results, REIDIN-GYODER New Home Price Index shows the increase of 0.23% in 1+1 flat type; increase of 0.68% in 2+1 flat type; increase of 0.16% in 3+1 flat type and increase of 0.08% in 4+1 flat type with respect to the previous month.

According to April 2013 results, REIDIN-GYODER New Home Price Index reveals that there is 0.55% increase in 51-75sqm size; 1.05% increase in 76-100sqm; 0.23% increase in 101-125sqm size; 0.24% increase in 126-150sqm and 0.08% increase in 151sqm and bigger sized properties with respect to the previous month.


According to the results of REIDIN-GYODER New Home Price Index, in April 2013 there is 0.31% increase with respect to the previous month and in compliance with April 2012 there is 7.99% increase.


According to April 2013 results of REIDIN-GYODER New Home Price Index, "Trademarked Projects" in Istanbul European side shows 0.37% increase and 0.28% increase in Asian side.

View the full report in PDF


RICS joins International Property Measurement Standards Coalition

posted @ 12:00am, Sunday 5 May 2013.

RICS and other leading property institutions from around the world met this week at the World Bank in Washington DC to launch an initiative aimed at developing a consistent international property measurement standard.

Already three key areas have been agreed: the governance model, the standard setting process and the declaration document.
The coalition, which represents more than a quarter of a million professionals around the world, is coming together to address the challenge of inconsistent global property measurement standards, which result in low investor confidence in property, inconsistent financial data and, ultimately, global economic instability.

At present, the way property assets – such as a housing development, office block or shopping centre – are measured varies wildly from country to country.
An example of current inconsistency is the way in which floor space is calculated. For example, in Spain, floor areas have been measured to include outdoor swimming pools; in parts of the Middle East they can include the hypothetical maximum number of floors that could be built on the existing foundations; and in Australia, measurements have included outdoor parking spaces, even when they are not physically adjoined to the property itself.

With so many different methods of measurement available, it makes it difficult for those looking to invest in these developments to compare like with like. This confusion can affect property values, lead to errors in financial reporting and, consequentially, undermine market confidence and economic stability.

The introduction of a universal standard for property measurement would ensure global consistency, leading to fewer instances of fraud, a more transparent market, greater public trust and increased economic security.

Convened by RICS, this initial meeting of the International Property Measurement Standards Coalition (IPMSC) is the first step to delivering this consistency which will provide:
  • greater global financial stability
  • more accurate and consistent financial reporting
  • stronger investor confidence
  • greater transparency of data
  • reduced risk of fraud.

The IPMSC aims to resolve disparities by developing and implementing international property measurement standards: a set of standards for measurement that are principles based and internationally applicable, to be adopted by all nations across the globe.
This is a groundbreaking initiative which has the potential to deliver huge benefits, both to real estate markets and to the economies and the populations they support around the world, by creating a level playing field for the way property is measured, valued and ultimately reported in financial statements.

Working with international portfolios inevitably brings real difficulties of comparison when every market has at least one different way of measuring space. It is bad enough that we do not all use the same conversion factor between square feet and square metres! I, and my peers from other major global businesses, either have to convert all space into our own individual basis of common measurement or suffer the inadequacy of comparing apples and pears - which negatively impacts on a company's ability to make sound business decisions. I welcome an initiate that will bring portfolio-wide, global consistency to space measurement and which, for the first time, will allow the industry to benchmark good space-use practice from wherever in the world it may be.
 Julian Lyon FRICS, Manager, European Real Estate, General Motors

The accurate recording of land, building and floor area measurements is fundamental to market transparency. Transparency in turn is a catalyst to the global capital flows that underpin the provision of adequate shelter, food and clothing to the world’s growing urban populations.
With the exception of language, it would not be an exaggeration to characterise global measurement protocols as the most urgent outstanding issue in the pursuit of global market transparency and performance comparability.
 Steve Williams FRICS, Executive Managing Director, Real Capital Analytics, New York

The inconsistencies in the commercial real estate measurement standards in Brazil have been responsible for confusion in the mind of space users, developers and investors. The discrepancies as to how space is measured can only further the distortions in values and overall definition of space. There is no doubt that unless there is an internationally recognized measurement standard, there can be no real internationally homogeneous standard of value.
 Ramsey Trados FRICS, Westfields Consultoria Empresarial Ltda, São Paulo, Brazil

The organisations involved in the IPMS include:
  • Appraisal Foundation – North America
  • Appraisal Institute – North America
  • Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) – Asia
  • Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT) – Brazil
  • Australian Property Institute – Australia
  • Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) – Global
  • China Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and Agents (CIREA) – China
  • CLGE – Europe
  • CREDI – India
  • Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy – Commonwealth nations
  • CoreNet – Global
  • Counsellors of Real Estate (CRE) – North America
  • FIABCI – Global
  • Global FM – Global
  • International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA) – Global
  • International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) – Global
  • International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) – Global
  • International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Global
  • International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) – Global
  • Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) – Global

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