Richard Offering citizenship to non-Turks who buy homes in Turkey should double the value of the country’s foreign real estate market, according to property companies who attended a recent exhibition in Azerbaijan.
Around 23,000 properties valued at circa $5billion were sold to foreigners in Turkey during 2015, however property firms who attended the RECEXPO property fair in Baku estimate this figure could double to $10billion once the Turkish Government pushes ahead with incentives for attracting more buyers.
Under current rules, foreign owners of immovable property in Turkey are entitled to a one-year residence permit. The Turkish Government is in the process of passing a law that would allow citizenship to be granted to foreign buyers who purchase a number of properties and meet certain conditions. The sooner this is implemented the sooner the property market will benefit from an uplift in foreign interest, including Azerbaijanis, said Turkish property firms.
Turkey is keen to attract more Azerbaijani investors, according to GYODER (Association of Real Estate & Real Estate Investment Companies). “We are committed to raising the interest of Azerbaijani investors to Turkey,” said GYODER Chairman Aziz Torun Torun said, highlighting Azerbaijani investors’ growing interest in Turkey over the last few years due to cultural and geographical proximity of the two countries.
He added: “Azerbaijanis, who are extremely interested in making investments abroad, are very familiar with Turkey and constantly show interest to it. Our brothers Azerbaijanis, who for many years preferred Turkey for rest, treatment and training, are investing today in property in Turkey, which they consider their second homeland.”
During the first nine months of 2016, Azerbaijanis accounted for 565 property transactions in Turkey.
