Turkey broadens its horizons

In the wake of global property investment declines, the Turkish Government has been looking at ways to encourage more foreign investors to the country, including relaxing rules surrounding property purchasing....

The current rules governing foreign property ownership in Turkey are fairly limiting. The country operates under the principle of reciprocity, which only allows foreign buyers to purchase Turkish property if Turks are allowed to buy homes in the buyer's home country.

These laws are currently prohibiting a broad spectrum of potential foreign buyers from purchasing property in Turkey.

Now, the Turkish Government has realized that measures must be taken to relax these laws in order to attract much needed foreign money into the country's ailing property market.

When the global property markets were booming, European investors were pouring money into the Turkish economy in exchange for second homes and investment properties. Now, with the credit crunch putting off a lot of European buyers, Turkey is hoping to lure in cash rich Middle Eastern buyers.

As these Middle Eastern buyers are not currently permitted to buy Turkish property under the Turkish rules, it has been decided that the rules should be reviewed.

As well as broadening Turkey's appeal, the rule changes may also benefit those who already own property in Turkey as the country should be boosted by the injection of cash from new buyers.

Turkey is also improving its infrastructure and accessibility, in a bid to appeal to yet more foreigners - both investors and tourists. The new airports under construction are expected to have a big impact on the level of tourism over the next few years.

The new international airport in the Alanya region, which is 30 km away from the Centre of the city, means that travellers can now reach the heart of Alanya in less than half an hour.

Picture by FastPhive