Real estate agents in Istanbul are lobbying for tighter rules on brokers who operate without a physical office, as the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) prepares to elect its real estate services committee on Oct. 27, according to a commentary published on Oct. 13.
Bilge Özdemir, founder of the GPPS industry platform, set out a list of demands for the second-hand housing market ahead of the vote, which will be held at the Istanbul Fair Center in Yeşilköy. The İTO’s 21st Professional Committee represents real estate service businesses in the city and is one of the sector’s main channels to policymakers.
Three demands
Özdemir’s first proposal is that property portals and social media should stop carrying listings from businesses that do not have a public, street-level office, such as home-based or purely online operators. Adnan Arslan, a field director at a franchise office in Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece area, argued that such competitors gain an unfair advantage because their costs are much lower.
The second proposal concerns exclusive mandates. Özdemir argued that when an owner gives a single agency the exclusive right to sell, the agency should share the financial burden while the property sits unsold, for example by covering or deducting from its fee the owner’s building dues and cleaning costs.
The third point concerns EİDS, the Electronic Authorization Verification System run through e-Devlet, the government’s online services portal. Under current rules, owners must confirm through EİDS that an agent is authorized before a property can be advertised online. Özdemir said he supports allowing several agencies to list the same property, but noted reports that the Ministry of Trade may restrict sales authority to a single agency. He did not confirm those reports, and the ministry has made no announcement.
Why it matters
Türkiye’s brokerage market is crowded and loosely structured compared with many European countries. Agents must hold an authorization certificate from the Ministry of Trade, but competition is intense and commission disputes are common. Separately on Oct. 14, the Real Estate Marketing and Sales Professionals Association (GAPAS) warned that shrinking business volumes and rising costs, including franchise fees, were forcing some offices to close.
What it means for foreign owners
Foreigners who own property in Türkiye already face the EİDS requirement: any agent listing their home online must receive authorization through the system, which requires an e-Devlet login or an in-person process. Any move to single-agency mandates would mean owners choosing one broker rather than spreading a property across several offices, a common practice in resort areas such as Antalya, Alanya and Bodrum.
For now, the proposals are industry positions rather than policy, and no regulatory change has been announced.
Sources
- Bilge Özdemir: Emlak ofislerine mal sahiplerine yönelik mali sorumluluklar getirilmeli! (Emlakkulisi)
- GAPAS’tan gayrimenkul sektörüne uyarı: İşletmeler neden kapanıyor? (EmlakDream)
Photo: Cayambe / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
