Foreign investors snap up Turkish homes

Feb 21, 2019

Foreigner nationals strategically snap up Turkish homes: why and how you can too

Cameron Deggin, former finance specialist, Turkey investment expert and MD and founder of Property Turkey, explains what has caused the spike in sales to Foreign nationals in 2018 and how to make the most of this opportunity for yourself.

2018 was an eventful year for Turkey. The lira dropped significantly due to a combination of both international and national political and economic factors. In response, the country worked to bounce back from this downturn, revitalise the financial climate and encourage investment in Turkey by amending tax, foreign currency and citizenship regulations.

The amendment that stood out to people on the global scale, in particular the Middle East, was the citizenship regulation changes. These involved a reduction in the amount of investments needed to acquire a Turkish visa, most notably lowering the value of a real estate investment was previous $1 million, now only $250,000.

This means that a foreigner, and their immediate family, is granted immediate citizenship status contingent upon a specified and quantifiable investment in the country. In comparison to residency status, which is what investors and wealthy individuals are granted in most countries, citizenship by investment means that laws are in place to grant full citizenship rights and privileges without any lengthy residence requirements. This is one of the few methods someone can gain these rights in another country, outside of the normal grounds of citizenship which are based on birth place or relationship to another person who is a citizen, whether by marriage or descent and naturalisation.

This massive incentive in combination with the struggling lira, made for an extremely opportunistic buying time for foreign buyers. The opportunity was snapped up by many: to be specific, 40,000 Turkish homes were sold to foreign nationals in 2018, a 78% increase on 2017 sales.

Not only have these foreign buyers bag a bargain villa in the sun for well under value. They also have direct access to apply for citizenship for them and their families.

Interested in a slice of the Turkish pie? Here’s what you need to know.

Who’s buying now?

Other Middle Eastern countries are majority of 2018 foreign buyers in Turkey, Iraqi citizens bought 8, 205 houses, Iranian bought 3, 652 houses, Saudi Arabia with 2 718 house sales and Kuwait with 2199 house sales.

Outside of the Middle East, Russians bought with 2,297 houses in Turkey in 2018.

Benefits of Turkey Second Citizenship Program and Turkish passport:

Free Education and University Reimbursement Plans are provided
Full free medical assistance for life, for all family members included
Pension Programs Included
Visa Free Travel for 148 countries
Turkish passport has 10-year validity and is renewable for life
Turkey Identity Card Included
No need to declare your wealth
Turkey allows Dual Citizenships
No Military Service required for TCBI Applicants
Future Access without visa to EU, 26 Schengen Zone Countries
Muslim country offering democratic and safe environment for family
Eurasian country with a hospitable and welcoming manner to foreigners
High quality health facilities
High quality educational Facilities
Prospective Visa free travel to EU

Different ways you can get involved:

As per the new regulations regarding application of Turkish citizenship code, foreigners who satisfy at least one of the below mentioned investment options will be able to obtain Turkish Citizenship (TC) in the year 2019 for themselves as well as their families:

Option (A) stipulates that a minimum amount of property (real estate) investment shall be made for $250k USD on the condition to not sell the invested property within the next 3 years. This amount has been reduced from $1m USD to $250k USD recently (or the equal value in Turkish Lira).
Option (B) requires to deposit $500k USD in cash (or the equal value in Turkish Lira) for at least 3 years in one of the Turkish Banks.
Option (C) requires that a fixed capital investment shall be made minimum of $500k USD (or the equal value in Turkish Lira. This investment shall be confirmed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Option (D) indicates that TC could be obtained provided that government bonds and bills to be purchased on the condition to hold them for at least 3 years. And this investment shall be confirmed by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
Option (E), foresees that it will be possible to obtain TC in the event of an investment to be made into a Turkish real estate investment trust, or buy the shares of the venture capital investment fund with a minimum amount of $500k USD.

This means, it is possible to obtain TC for yourself, as well as for your family members: your wife and children below 18 years old (18 years old included) with proceeding one of the abovementioned investment options according to your choice, and once the required conditions are duly met.