ALANYA - According to a report, prepared by Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry Deputy Chairman Huseyin Erkek, the number of foreigners who possess estates in Turkey is 62,500 as in private and corporate body. The area of sold real properties is 285 million squaremeters.
6,053 of the sales were in the period between January 7th, 2006 (the day the new law came into force that authorizes foreigners to purchase property) and July 24th, 2006. In the same period, 1876 British, 801 Irish, 749 German, 357 Dutch, 296 Norwegian, 176 Belgian and 90 Greek citizens bought properties in Turkey.
Report says that real properties owned by Turkish people in Syria have an area of more than 1 million squaremeters, while Syrians own 241 million squaremeters in Turkey, which means 88 percent of real properties possessed by foreigners in Turkey. 70 percent of real properties that belong to Syrians were stated to be transferred by inheritance. Germany, Lebanon, Greece, Britain, the USA and Egypt are listed below Syria, according to report.
In terms of area size possessed by foreigners, Hatay, a southern city near Syrian border, is on the top of the list. Istanbul, Mugla, Antalya and Izmir follows it.
British people, with a number of 14,456, are ahead of Germans and Greeks, in terms of foreign investments in real estate in Turkey.
Underlining that properties possessed by Israelis were centered in 10 cities, report indicates that the area of these properties is about 80,000 squaremeters.