How inflation turned Turkey into a paradise for remote workers and property investors

How inflation turned Turkey into a paradise for remote workers and property investors
Date: 28.8.2023 21:00

Looking back a couple of years ago, what would have been the best investment for your lockdown savings: cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, the shares of tech giants like Tesla or Amazon or residential property in a country beset by hyperinflation and economic woes? If you didn’t pick the latter think again.

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Investors who bought the shares of Tesla in March 2021 earned 3% over more than two years. Amazon shares since March 2021 lost about 17% of their value. Cryptocurrency investors were even less lucky: Bitcoin’s exchange rate to US dollars plunged more than 55%. On the contrary, those who in March 2021 bought a house or a flat in Turkey saw the value of their investment doubled. In 2022 alone year average house price in Turkey soared 75 percent in the US dollar terms
 
Unorthodox monetary policy of the Turkish central bank, which dushed interest rates in response to mounting inflationary pressure instead of raising them to slow demand, led to a proper hyperinflation with consumer prices index’s year on year increase approaching triple digits. Following the appointment of the new head of the country’s central bank, Hafize Gaye Erkan, a 43 years old female Harvard graduate, the bank reversed its policy and inflation, according to Turkstat, slowed down to 48%.
 
Plummeting Turkish lira turned Turkey into an attractive destination for those who after the pandemic has switched to remote working. With salaries nominated in dollars, euro or British pounds and living expenses in liras foreigners relocated to Turkey hit the jackpot. The annalists of Housearch.com, have calculated that the cost of living in Antalya, next to the beaches and the sea, would range from US$1,000, if on a budget, to US$2,000, close to a luxury living band, per month. 
 
No wonder, according to official statistics, house sales to foreigners increased by 15.2% in 2022 alone. Analysts say that the prices are likely to continue to grow. While in the most prominent destinations like Istanbul, Izmir and Bodrum growth is likely to slow down, as rent multipliers suggest, for other coastal destinations there is still a significant upside. 
 
Property experts have noted an upward trend where buyers are turning to waterfront locations, including Kusadasi, Kalkan, and Antalya. Since the pandemic, there's been a surge in the appetite for waterfront properties throughout the country. Despite a significant earthquake affecting parts of Turkey, it didn't hinder the sales trajectory. The end of election  has removed uncertainties instilling further confidence in foreign investors. Developers feel upbeat too: international real estate investment firms have Turkey back on their radar. As housing prices rise, driven, in particular, by foreign demand, faster than construction costs new development projects are likely to attract international investors. 

YEREL HABERLER

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