Can someone at Property secrets advise if they have any plans to launch investments in Turkey or maybe even North Cyprus in the future, or are you now totally focussed only on Eastern Europe?

1) Turkish cities like Istanbul seem to have all the fundamentals thet PS often talk about. Huge population growth, economic growth, growth in FDI, introduction of mortgages. 2) Is it really more risky to invest in Istanbul than say Bucharest? Any thoughts?

I have done research on several investment opportunities and believe that both Istanbul and Bucharest will do very well.

Erik, Did you look at suburbs of Istanbul? I've heard conflicting opinions on yield that can be expected. One source thought that £5/sqm could be expected in an area called Beylukduzu (if that were true it means a 10% yield) 25 mins out of center. Another thought that it would be difficult to find tenants in the suburbs and rentals are low.

I don't know if you have read about the army possibly getting involved if the "wrong" man is elected president but it's exactly the sort of instability which would prevent me from investing in Turkey. See here: http: / /news .bbc .co .uk /1 /hi /business /6606723 .stm Huw

In a recent report on emerging European markets PriceWaterhouseCoopers say that Istanbul is going to be the "Star of the next decade". Further, Grant Thornton predict that Turkey could overtake the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) group in terms of growth. It referred to Turkey as the "next generation"

1) Turkish cities like Istanbul seem to have all the fundamentals thet PS often talk about. Huge population growth, economic growth, growth in FDI, introduction of mortgages. 2) Is it really more risky to invest in Istanbul than say Bucharest? Any thoughts?

Hi Jay, a quick update to this forum post based on figures released today by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce which indicate that Turkey needs an additional 5.5 million homes by 2016.

Istanbul’s Chamber of Commerce (ITO) has claimed that a housing shortage is looming in the country that needs between 300,000 and 350,000 new properties to be built annually to cope with the demand placed on it from a growing younger population and foreign interest.

Data obtained from the ITO revealed that in the next eight years, a projected 5.5million new homes will be required to facilitate the country’s expanding population. Some 2.88 million will be needed due to population increases, 760,000 to cope with internal migration.

The report indicates the state of the housing stock in urban centres across the country.

… and 652,000 to replace old and neglected properties. The ITO also revealed that an additional 1.25 million homes would be needed as part of ongoing urban transformation projects across the country.

However, although a clear shortage of properties exists in the country, the ITO also highlighted the growing number of vacant properties scattered around Istanbul and Turkey as a whole. The ITO data revealed that 65% of properties in the country were used or rented out by their owners leaving 35% disused throughout the year. According to the news portal Today’s Zaman, the data from the ITO also revealed that 55% of accommodation in Turkey is unregistered or unlicensed, 60% is 20 or more years old and 40% of properties in the country need maintenance.

Despite the huge demand for new housing, political instability still remains a huge factor to investing in Turkey. The economy is expected to slow in 2008 having performed well in 2007 – FDI increased by 9.8% in 2007 but this is also expected to decrease slightly this year.

Economists are forecasting that growth will pick up again in 2009 but the political situation really is the main barrier to entry I would have thought

Noreen

Hi

I'm in full agreement with Huw here.

The lawsuit to strip the PM of office and shut down his party looks like it'll hang over the country and bring huge political instability for some time.

Icelandic-like interest rates of 15.25% and inflation running at over 9% don't help either.

Maybe long term, yes, but uncertain times right now.

cheers