Turkish home sales fall 9.3% in September as second-hand market slumps and mortgage sales rise

Home sales in Türkiye fell 9.3% year on year in September to 142,390 units, dragged down by a sharp drop in the second-hand market, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) figures reported by the property news site Emlakkulisi.

Sales of second-hand homes fell 15.3% to 90,871, while first-hand, or new-build, sales rose about 3.9% to 51,519. New homes accounted for 32.9% of all transactions in the month. Even after the decline, resale homes still made up 63.8% of all properties changing hands.

Mortgages gain ground

Sales financed with a mortgage rose 5.1% to 23,397, lifting their share of the market to 16.4% from 14.2% a year earlier. Over the first nine months, mortgaged sales were also up about 5.1% and made up 19.4% of all sales.

Total sales between January and September fell about 7.2%, from roughly 1.177 million in 2025 to roughly 1.092 million this year. Cumulative sales declined in the three largest cities: by 4.06% in Istanbul, 6.4% in Ankara and 8.2% in İzmir.

Cansel Turgut Yazıcı of the appraisal firm EVA Gayrimenkul Değerleme told Emlakkulisi that a recovery depends on easier access to housing loans, while warning that a broader credit expansion could also push prices higher. Prices are already rising in nominal terms: the central bank’s index showed house prices up 1.2% in September, although annual gains have been trailing consumer inflation.

Hidden costs in resale homes

With most buyers still turning to resale properties, agents are urging them to budget for more than the asking price. Yaşar Doğan, founder of Yaşarkent Gayrimenkul, told Emlakkulisi that renovation, plumbing, window frames, heating systems and moving costs can significantly raise the final bill.

He advised buyers to sort repairs into urgent and deferrable jobs and to obtain firm quotes in advance. Buyers should also ask the building management about monthly dues (aidat), heating costs and planned shared works such as roof or facade insulation or a lift overhaul, since owners pay for these directly. Two flats of similar size in the same area can differ widely in age and condition, he said, so the true comparison is the purchase price plus renovation cost and the time before the home can be lived in.

Foreign buyers face the same considerations on top of transaction charges such as the 4% title deed fee, which are set out in our guide to the costs of buying a home. The government has also again postponed the secure payment system for property sales, which is designed to protect buyers and sellers when money and the title deed change hands.

Sources

• Eylül ayı konut satışları bir önceki yılın gerisinde kaldı! (Emlakkulisi)
• İkinci el konut almayı düşünenler dikkat! (Emlakkulisi)

Photo: Maurice Flesier / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons