Istanbul, Turkey, the city where East meets West. Turkey overall is a beautiful and cosmopolitan country with diverse cultures and traditions. A diverse country has been on the map for a long time, but it just started to be a hub of investments and tourism in the past decades. It’s because the government in the past decades has been open to foreign investment and tourism to help the economy in its own country. 

One of its famous cities in the country is Istanbul. Istanbul is not the capital city of Turkey. It is a city with lots of cultural significants in the past, and gradually coming up in the present for the future. Geography has played a big part in Turkey with its cities connecting to all economic regionals hubs such as European Union, ASEAN, and America. Istanbul has a regional advantage over many other cities in the world as Istanbul does not connect East to West or North to South. You are a few hours away on a flight to London or a few hours to Mumbai. Istanbul connects you to all financial hubs of the world in just a few hours on the flight. 

Geography advantage is paramount during a time where business air travel and globalization have connected the world in ways no one could have imagined ten years back. As a result, people are more connected to each other than before—Istanbul, with its untapped market, young population, and rapidly growing start-ups and entre-puer ship program. Istanbul can be your second home, with suitable investments profits yield, quick return of investments, and a new asset to have a lifestyle change. 

Istanbul Real Estate Climate 

The property industries have been looking into Istanbul to cover how its real estate market is booming during the pandemic. However, going back to the year 2020, s reported on dailysabah.com, around 190,000 to 230,000 units sold between June and July of 2020. Fast forward to June 2021, house sales have dropped by 29.1%, but a total of 134,731 properties changes hand in June of 2021. These figures state that people are changing houses because of cheap rents, low unemployment rates, and governments’ encouragement of investments, locally and internationally. 

Few factors do come into play of why Turkey as a whole has a booming real estate market. Factors that come into play in how the government encourages investments, currency exchange rates, and high inflation with low-interest rates are beneficial to investors. Never forget the warm climate, people, and beautiful scenery you get in Istanbul and Turkey as a whole. 

Currency exchange 

To counter the high inflation rates of the Lira, the government is promoting low-interest rates as a signal of consumers to purchases. But, on the other hand, the ongoing pandemic is still among us, so people tend to save or purchase valuable things. Such value purchases can be are cars, houses, or changes of currency, where you can return investments and protect wealth. 

Looking at charts for different currency exchange rates and converting your currency into Lira, in a way, does come cheaper. House and condo prices in Istanbul are known to be on the cheaper side, comparing it to the EU market. Roughly around 44% of ex-pats purchasing houses or condos in Istanbul are British and from the EU. It is a feeling of not being away from home, but the cultures and traditions in Istanbul do give you a sense of warmth and adventure every day. 

New Permanent Home/Citizenship 

So, moving permanently to Turkey for a new career change or investment is more accessible than most countries. Istanbul welcomes all nations and people to its city. Turkey can be an unfamiliar place for some, so that decision-making can be slower than usual because of unfamiliarity. But as Istanbul has a wide range of houses and condos with amazing views of Bosphorus where you can see the West (Europe), prices are relatively low. By having a set amount of investments needed in Istanbul to purchase a house or condo, the government offers citizenship. A significant advantage of citizenship is applying for US visas as an investor; it comes more accessible and in handy. Even if you plan to sell the property after three years. As stated above, around 130,000 units have changed hands. It strikes confidence to investors that people are always looking for a new house or condo in Istanbul approximately 44%, but also in Turkey capital city Ankara next by 13% of ex-pats. 

Location

When looking out the window to see a beautiful Bosphorus (Europe) bridge or out at the window is the famous Hagia Sophia mosque in Sultanahmet (Asia), nothing can beat those views. That is what you get in Istanbul. It is not just the location of your house or window. But the area of the city by connecting it with the East and the West. Or the site of the country. It relates to many financial regional hubs; Istanbul is always welcome to foreing workers and investors. They can be nowhere else on the planet where you can have both East and West meet in one place. Istanbul having a warm climate throughout the year does encourage investors from the Balkins region to purchase houses or condos in Istanbul. Never forget the beautiful beaches that Turkey can offer to people who are in Istanbul.