Antalya ready to draw foreign property buyers
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 18, 2009 00:00
ANTALYA - With 21,000 homes ready to sell, Antalya could attract more foreign buyers if some of the impediments are removed, the local Chamber of Commerce says, citing the global economic crisis, the downfall of the US mortgage system and the worldwide decrease in home prices
A surplus of 21,000 adobe homes in the Alanya and Antalya areas is ready for purchase by foreign buyers, said Faruk Sayın, a member of the acting board of Antalya Chamber Of Commerce and Industry, or ATSO.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Sayın, who is also the president of the ATSO’s Construction Sector Commission, said that their research shows 9,000 to 10,000 adobe homes in the Alanya region, and around 11,000 in central Antalya and its surrounding area, are ready for buyers.The global economic crisis, the downfall of the mortgage system in the United States, and the decrease in home prices worldwide are behind the 25 to 30 percent drop in adobe home prices in the region, compared to prices in 2006 and 2007, Sayın said.
"The decrease in prices and the rising exchange rate make our country attractive for foreigners to buy real estate," he said, adding that if the right kind of promotion is implemented abroad, foreigners will buy more real estate in Turkey. High interest rates for adobe loans and the weight of added value tax on the sector are among the factors contributing to the steadiness in the sector, Sayın added.
In order to increase real-estate purchases, public-relations efforts must target negative images of Turkey in other countries and bureaucratic obstacles facing foreign buyers must be reduced to a minimum, Sayın said.
Report to TOBB, government ATSO has presented a report on this subject to Rıfat Hisarcıklı, president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, or TOBB, along with deputies of Antalya and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The report included suggestions for increasing sales to foreigners, including the following recommendation:"At present, a note about a property in Antalya to be purchased by foreigners must to be sent to the Aegean Army Command, but it takes three to six months to receive an answer."
Loss of time
"Real-estate purchases for foreigners take two to three weeks in Germany and one day to two weeks in Spain," the report continued. "For that reason, if maps of the areas where foreigners cannot purchase land for security reasons are provided in advance to the land registry directorates and cadastre, or, if the mentioned authority for permission of purchases is transferred to the military unit in Antalya, it would prevent the loss of time."
According to the report, another serious problem is the requirement for foreigners to have a residence permit to purchase land in Turkey, despite high demand from citizens of countries like Denmark, Kazakhstan and Russia. It asked that countries’ histories and legal conditions should be considered in establishing a reciprocity principle and that exceptions to the rules be granted. Even in Antalya, which at the top of the list for foreigners’ real-estate purchases, the rate has not reached one percent and the public view on property sales to foreigners is extremely negative, the report added, asking that the sector’s added value to the economy be better promoted. "Many countries, notably England, are practicing applications of loan subsidy that encourage adobe purchases," it said. "The adobe loan interests, which are 1.40 percent in our country, should be decreased, or interest over one percent should be subsidized by the state."
The report also said that the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, or TOKİ, help market the available homes to foreigners instead of unfairly competing with the construction sector in touristy areas like Antalya. An organization should be founded to bring Europe’s leading real-estate brokers together with Turkish companies that have homes to sell, ATSO suggested. It also recommended that the added value tax be decreased from 18 percent to eight percent.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Sayın, who is also the president of the ATSO’s Construction Sector Commission, said that their research shows 9,000 to 10,000 adobe homes in the Alanya region, and around 11,000 in central Antalya and its surrounding area, are ready for buyers.The global economic crisis, the downfall of the mortgage system in the United States, and the decrease in home prices worldwide are behind the 25 to 30 percent drop in adobe home prices in the region, compared to prices in 2006 and 2007, Sayın said.
"The decrease in prices and the rising exchange rate make our country attractive for foreigners to buy real estate," he said, adding that if the right kind of promotion is implemented abroad, foreigners will buy more real estate in Turkey. High interest rates for adobe loans and the weight of added value tax on the sector are among the factors contributing to the steadiness in the sector, Sayın added.
In order to increase real-estate purchases, public-relations efforts must target negative images of Turkey in other countries and bureaucratic obstacles facing foreign buyers must be reduced to a minimum, Sayın said.
Report to TOBB, government ATSO has presented a report on this subject to Rıfat Hisarcıklı, president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, or TOBB, along with deputies of Antalya and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The report included suggestions for increasing sales to foreigners, including the following recommendation:"At present, a note about a property in Antalya to be purchased by foreigners must to be sent to the Aegean Army Command, but it takes three to six months to receive an answer."
Loss of time
"Real-estate purchases for foreigners take two to three weeks in Germany and one day to two weeks in Spain," the report continued. "For that reason, if maps of the areas where foreigners cannot purchase land for security reasons are provided in advance to the land registry directorates and cadastre, or, if the mentioned authority for permission of purchases is transferred to the military unit in Antalya, it would prevent the loss of time."
According to the report, another serious problem is the requirement for foreigners to have a residence permit to purchase land in Turkey, despite high demand from citizens of countries like Denmark, Kazakhstan and Russia. It asked that countries’ histories and legal conditions should be considered in establishing a reciprocity principle and that exceptions to the rules be granted. Even in Antalya, which at the top of the list for foreigners’ real-estate purchases, the rate has not reached one percent and the public view on property sales to foreigners is extremely negative, the report added, asking that the sector’s added value to the economy be better promoted. "Many countries, notably England, are practicing applications of loan subsidy that encourage adobe purchases," it said. "The adobe loan interests, which are 1.40 percent in our country, should be decreased, or interest over one percent should be subsidized by the state."
The report also said that the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, or TOKİ, help market the available homes to foreigners instead of unfairly competing with the construction sector in touristy areas like Antalya. An organization should be founded to bring Europe’s leading real-estate brokers together with Turkish companies that have homes to sell, ATSO suggested. It also recommended that the added value tax be decreased from 18 percent to eight percent.