A household in Istanbul would need a monthly income of around 475,000 lira to buy an average 100-square-metre home with a bank loan, while buyers in Antalya would need about 355,000 lira, according to calculations published by Hürriyet’s financial news site Bigpara on Sunday.
The analysis uses the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) house price data for the third quarter of 2026 and covers the 10 provinces with the most home sales. It assumes that banks expect the monthly loan instalment to be no more than 40% of household income, and divides each instalment by 0.40 to reach the income needed.
Istanbul, Antalya and İzmir top the list
Istanbul remains by far the most expensive market. According to the report, an average 100 m² home there costs about 9.08 million lira. With loans limited to up to 70% of the value, a buyer would need a down payment of roughly 2.73 million lira and would borrow about 6.36 million lira. At a monthly rate of 2.89% over 120 months, described as the lowest housing loan rate at a public bank, the instalment comes to about 190,000 lira.
Antalya, popular with foreign residents and holiday-home buyers, is the second most expensive city in the list at an average of 5.94 million lira for 100 m², just ahead of İzmir at 5.76 million lira. With an 80% loan, the Antalya buyer would borrow about 4.76 million lira and pay around 142,000 lira a month. In İzmir, a loan of 4.61 million lira means instalments of about 137,650 lira and a required income of 344,000 lira.
The report put the average price in Ankara at 4.92 million lira, where the loan ratio can reach 90% depending on the building’s energy class, giving a required income of 331,000 lira.
Lower thresholds in Mersin and Anatolian cities
Further down the list, Kocaeli (4.68 million lira) requires an income of 315,000 lira, Tekirdağ (4.34 million) 292,500 lira and Bursa (4.27 million) 287,500 lira. On the Mediterranean, Mersin’s average of 4.09 million lira translates into a loan of about 3.68 million lira, monthly instalments of around 110,000 lira and a household income of 275,000 lira. The lowest thresholds were in Konya (about 248,000 lira) and Gaziantep (232,500 lira), where 100 m² homes average 3.69 million and 3.46 million lira.
The article gave the interest rate and maturity explicitly only for Istanbul, and some loan ratios for other cities were not stated, so the figures should be read as indicative.
What it means for buyers
The calculations apply to buyers financing a purchase with a lira housing loan from a Turkish bank. They come as the market adjusts to slower price growth: the official valuation index showed house prices up about 23% in August, below inflation, while recent data also pointed to a fall in September home sales.
On top of the down payment, buyers should budget for the title deed fee and other transaction costs explained in our guide to the costs of buying a home. For a closer look at the city’s districts and prices, see our Antalya guide for expats and buyers.
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Photo: Ruslan Aiginin / Unsplash License, via Unsplash
