If you’re thinking of snapping up a buy-to-let holiday home in Turkey, now is a good time to act. This year Turkey bumped Spain off its number one spot as British destination of choice, as a strong euro once again made other eurozone sunspots a pricey option.
Sean Tipton, spokesperson for the Association of British Tour Agents (ABTA) says: “Bookings worldwide were down by 10% in 2009 on the year before, and eurozone was particularly badly hit, down 12%. But two destinations went up considerably. One was Egypt and the other was Turkey, where bookings were actually up 16% on 2008 – and 2008 was a good year for Turkey. The most popular destinations were Bodrum, Kusadasi and Sidhe.”

Tipton expects the trend to continue. “People are very pleasantly surprised when they go to Turkey for the first time,” says Tipton. “Brits are creatures of habit so we can pretty much guarantee it will be up again in 2010, because sterling will continue to be weaker to the euro for some time.”

Massive government investment in infrastructure, a maturing economy and low cost of living (some figures say as little as a third of UK costs) is making the country equally attractive to property investors. Rampant inflation that dogged Turkey in the 1990s appears to be under control and the government has recently tightened up real estate regulations and updated mortgage laws, reducing pitfalls for buyers and opening up financing. Possible Turkish accession to the EU, around five years away, is also a key factor.

Developer John Middleton of Turkey Construction estimates prices in most resorts have risen a minimum of 20% to 50% from 2005/06. Mid credit-crunch the market is relatively flat, however, making this is a good the time to snap up a deal.

Hilmi Dal an agent at Realty World Antalya says: “Antalya apartment prices are still far from their expected peak and represent real value for money. Prices have fallen as much as 15% since May. There is some indication that confidence is coming back, but at the moment it’s a bit erratic. You can go to one area and find 10 different price levels.” Their site lists two-bed apartments in the city for as little as £33,800.

 

Read the full article in our November 2009 issue.