Housing sales peak in September: Sector's December expectations

Housing sales across Turkey reached 142,390 units in September, seeing the highest level of the year. Although total sales decreased by 9.3 percent compared to the same month of the last year, the increase in first-hand housing sales and sector representatives' expectations for the last quarter of the year signaled activity in the market.

Housing sales carried out across Turkey in September were recorded as 142,390. With this figure, sales reached the highest level of the year. While the data shows a 9.3 percent drop in total sales on an annual basis, first-hand housing sales increased by 3.9 percent compared to the same month of the last year, rising to 51,519, and the peak of the year was seen in this field as well. Second-hand housing sales decreased by 15.3 percent to 90,871, while the share of new houses in total sales rose to 36.2 percent. In the same period, mortgaged housing sales increased by 5.1 percent on an annual basis, reaching 23,397 units.

Ziya Yılmaz, Chairman of the Board of the Housing Developers and Investors Association (KONUTDER); Hakan Akdoğan, Chairman General of all Entrepreneur Real Estate Consultants Association (TÜGEM); Mustafa Ekiz, Chairman of the Real Estate and Construction Platform; and Mustafa Kemal Şahin, Chairman of the Real Estate Marketing and Sales Professionals Association (GAPAS), evaluated the September data. Sector representatives stated that the increase in first-hand houses is a positive signal in terms of market activity and expressed their expectation of an increase and mobility in housing sales in the last quarter of the year and especially in December.