Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at June 13th, 2008

Parliament yesterday debated the law that regulates the sale of land to foreigners. Some experts believes the new act will allow for more land to be sold to foreigners, while others believe it will bring more limitations, as it will make the procedures more confusing.

Yet, another long-standing issue is will selling land to foreigners become a threat to Turkey’s security and independence?

“It should not be overlooked that taking hold of land [by foreign entities] will also mean giving away political and cultural independence,” read a press statement by the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, or TMMOB. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 11th, 2008

The “Island of Turkey” is among 300 properties in the World Islands Project, a land reclamation project in Dubai created by real estate company Nakheel Properties.

The island was sold to Günal İnşaat, an affiliate of MNG Holding, for $50 million. Günal İnşaat plans to construct luxurious villas on the island.

Nakheel Properties initiated the luxury island development along with a series of other artificial island projects in 2003. The development, which sits four kilometers from the city center, features numerous islands designed to resemble a city or country. Completed in January, the islands offer an image of the world in a very concentrated area. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 10th, 2008

The Turkish real estate sector is preparing to welcome leading British real estate investment company Savills the next season.

As an initial investment, the company plans to devote 400 million euros to Turkey in the hope of reaping 25 percent net profits from the market.

The international credit crunch has an adverse impact on the real estate sectors in developed countries, while developing countries, including Turkey, are on the verge of recovery, said Ian Jones, property investment director of Savills. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 6th, 2008

Turkish real estate agents and foreign buyers remain at loggerheads over Parliament’s failure to pass a law regarding the purchase of property by foreigners.

Despite the government’s promise to pass the law as soon as possible, recent political tensions have stalled the necessary amendments to Turkey’s Title Deed Law, halting all sale of property to foreigners for the moment.

With the advent of summer, foreigners, who believe they have purchased property in Turkey, are arriving by charter planes only to find they cannot collect their property because of legislative delays – a situation that is making real estate agents furious over the delay in passing the law. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 5th, 2008

Turkey’s convergence process with the European Union and macroeconomic stability should boost foreign interest in Turkish real estate, Akın Tüzün, head of Turkish equity research at Citigroup, said yesterday.

Speaking at the Turkish Real Estate Summit organized by The Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER) in Istanbul, Tüzün noted Turkey currently attracts around $3 billion foreign investment into the local real estate sector. “This is less than 0.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – a low figure as such if compared to Eastern Europe, and particularly to Spain, Portugal and Greece.” With close to $50 billion in current account deficit, Turkey needs substantial foreign capital inflow. As portfolio inflows and major privatizations slow down this year, Turkey has to attract foreign capital particularly in real estate,” Tüzün added. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 26th, 2008

Turkey’s impressive cultural and architectural heritage deserve preserving as developers turn a covetous eye to its coast, a world-renowned architect warned at a real estate symposium held Saturday in Bodrum.

“What differentiates architecture from construction is delight, which ensures sustainability,” said acclaimed architect and New York University professor Richard England, whose works may be found as far afield as Kazakhstan and Malta. “Architecture should create places for the soul, not just the body. An important element of this architecture is to create something with, and in which we can put, a bit of love.” (more…)

Posted by meb at May 24th, 2008

Turkey is rapidly surpassing European countries in its investments in outlet stores, which sell out-of-season products at discounted prices.

Turkey is second in Europe in terms of leasable outlet area, with 382,781 square meters in 19 outlet malls. It follows England, which has 471,881 square meters of leasable outlet area in 29 outlet malls. Italy follows Turkey with 12 outlet malls. France comes next with 11 outlet malls. There are a total of 133 outlet malls in Europe, with 3.02 million square meters of leasable outlet area, while in America there are 222 outlet malls, with 5.57 million square meters. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 23rd, 2008

Antares shopping mall opened in Ankara’s Etlik district Wednesday. Covering on an area of 410,000 square meters, the center is a candidate to be the biggest mall in Turkey. The project is launched by Dolunay İnşaat, the operating partner of Turkish corporate Nata İnşaat, which is a project developer for the construction sector.

“Antares is the largest real estate investment project established with the use of domestic capital of Turkey,” said Uğur Göksel, the project manager of Antares. Metro Group Asset Management, a cross-divisional service company perform an array of services in such areas as real estate, gastronomy and marketing, is responsible from the management of the shopping center. (more…)