Keith’s Weekly Property News September 7-2025
Market snapshot:
September is a month that can often be used as a barometer as to the health of the Turkish RE market. Being a busy period, normally, for both rentals and sales. At first glance, rentals seem to be humming along in a fairly predictable manner. Properties that are priced right, getting snapped up in a matter of days or a few weeks at most. Nothing fundamental seems to have changed there, although the summer did feel a bit more plodding than previous years. This is likely attributed to consumer ‘belt tightening’ as the squeeze of inflation is unrelenting, or at least not loosening to a degree that people feel secure, especially in making larger financial decisions.
A quick glance at the borrowing rates of major banks show us levels of between 3 to 3.5%. Yes, that is monthly!!! It would be hard to imagine anything less than a 6 month continued ‘grind along the bottom’ on the sales front. Purely anecdotally here, it does seem that a lot of the people who had to sell- for one reason or another- may have already jumped ship and sold. There are sporadic very good deals, but it seems a lot of the damage may have been done and prices have more or less stabilized. Even though an abrupt reversal of 20 months of downturn seems highly unlikely, neither does a collapse in prices. Call it one of the virtues of Turkish RE. It is relatively shock proof. Basically, if prices were to have collapsed, they would have done so by now. That is not spin. It is just fact.
So, what to do if you want to buy? Want to sell? Well, obviously, it continues to be ‘on’ for buying, with the caveat that CBI buyers have less choice than non-CBI (for reasons we have discussed at length previously). There has seemed to be a little lull in new offerings in downtown Istanbul in the past month, but that likely will see an uptick as well in September. So, in short, on the buying side, same rules apply: some reasonable amount of research, some patience and a realistic expectation will see you able to nail down a few properties to reach CBI in something less than an ungodly amount of time (1 to 2 months). It can be done in less time, but you probably need to outsource your autonomy for that.
So, selling? This question has popped up a bit more in the past few months as some people are looking to liquidate. The main issue with selling now is the utter lack of demand (see above rates and that should be no ‘spoiler’). However, if you price to market, you should still be able to move product. That pricing @to market@ might be a bit painful if you are comparing the value of your property to where it was 2-3 years ago. The other solution would be to wait it out. If it is bringing in decent income, and otherwise performing well, you may want to look on your Turkish RE asset as having a fairly constant value, one that is likely to continue to go up over time (even if not very liquid at this particular moment). Biting the bullet now likely means giving up on anywhere from 20 to 40% upside in the future – of unknown time frame of course being the mitigating factor there. In the end, everyone is just trying to make rational financial decisions or adapting to changes in personal circumstances, or most hopefully, gearing up to seize some other great opportunity or invest in business or further education. Whatever it may be, probably the most effective strategy is to discuss in detail your needs with your realtor. Give some expectations, but also be willing to listen to feedback. If you really need to get out fast, be that ‘squeaky wheel’ and make some noise.
A few fun facts and figures apropos of nothing much:
2k USD/sqm average sqm price of relatively new property in Ferikoy, Sisli.
2.5 to 3K USD/sqm ‘’ ‘’ ‘’ property in Kurtulus.
4k USD/sqm and UP ‘’ ‘’ ‘’ property in Bomonti.
6k USD/sqm and UP ‘’ ‘’ ‘’ property in Nisantasi.
1.5-2k USD/sqm for older property in Kurtulus/Mesrutiyet and Harbiye.
5 to 7% average client yield on rental properties.
154k USD average price of property sold to clients in 2025 so far.
500-600USD/sqm. Average cost of A to Z renovation.
90-100 USD. Daily rate for house cleaning.
45 USD average cost of flight from Istanbul to Izmir.
50 USD cost of taxi from downtown to Sabiha Gokcen airport.
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