Turkey 'offers capital growth prospects'

Monday July 21st , 2008

Overseas property buyers could be able to collect strong capital gains in the Turkish market.

According to Hisham A Rahman Khalifa, investment banking manager at Shamil Bank, house prices in Turkey have gone up consistently since 2002.

Speaking to the Gulf Daily News, he said the growth in the market has been taking place since it overcame an economic crisis six years ago.

This means that many investors who have purchased property in Turkey during the last few years could find that their residence is now worth more than the amount they originally paid.

Mr Khalifa commented: "Unlike other markets, the Turkish real estate market still maintains intrinsic value in ongoing developments and has not reached a stage of over-supply or rampant speculation."

He added that Antalya and Istanbul are two of the best-performing markets in Turkey, as they have seen "considerable growth" in recent years.

According to official figures, gross domestic product in Turkey went up by 6.6 per cent year-on-year between January and March 2008.

This comes after growth of 3.4 per cent during the previous quarter and 4.5 per cent during 2007 as a whole.