Natalie House prices rose more in Turkey than in any other mainstream real estate market during 2015, according to a report from international property consultancy Knight Frank.
Recording growth of 18.4% puts Turkey top of Knight Frank’s most recent Global House Price Index, which compares average house prices in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2014 and Q4 2015 for 55 countries. In second place was New Zealand with (14.2%), followed by Sweden (12.3%), Australia (10.7%) and Luxemburg (9.2%). The only other EU country in the top 10 was Estonia, in 7th place (8%). Meanwhile, the UK is ranked 26th with 4.2% growth and Hong Kong, typically in the top 3, is down to 9th with 7.1%.
Turkey also recorded the highest level of price growth between Q3 and Q4 2015, namely 3.6%.
“Increasingly viewed as a safe haven for Middle Eastern investors, Turkey is bridging East and West whilst also seeing strong population growth,” stated the Knight Frank report. “Despite the fragile state of the global economy the world’s housing markets recorded 3% growth on average in 2015. Forty-three of the 55 housing markets tracked in our Global House Price Index saw prices rise (78%), up from 10 countries (19%) in the aftermath of Lehman’s collapse in Q2 2009.”
However, the report warned of a muted outlook for 2016. It said: “We expect the index’s overall rate of growth to be weaker in 2016 than 2015. The global economy is experiencing a potentially dangerous cocktail of low oil prices, a strong dollar and a continued slowdown in China.”
