Last week, budget airline Easyjet flew their first flight of a new thrice-weekly service to Dalaman, Turkey from London Gatwick. The new service is expected to open up the property market around the town, which is situated on the south-west coast of Turkey, and both property prices and rental prices are expected to grow in the area.  Read more... (276 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

The Constitutional Court of Turkey has recently announced they are cancelling a law that allows sales of real estate to companies established by foreign firms. The ruling will come as a blow to some foreign property investors who setup companies in Turkey to enable them to buy in restricted areas of the country.

Areas such as military zones and rural lands have restrictions on who can buy them, as does land which is over 30 hectares in area. For foreign property investors who wanted to buy this sort of real estate, many formed a company in Turkey and purchased the real estate through their new company. However, this loophole has now been closed.  Read more... (278 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

Turkey is already a big player in the tourism market however the Turkish Tourism and Culture office want to push tourism in the country even further. To aid this, they have announced ambitious new plans which coincide with the creation of the Turkish Republic in 2023 with the aim of attracting more than 50 million tourists to Turkey each year. It is hoped that by increasing the number of tourists to the country, tourist related revenues will reach over $50 billion a year.  Read more... (340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Turkey is the new land of promise for foreign property investors – the country has recently opened up land ownership for foreigners, EasyJet have started to fly into Istanbul, and Harvey Nichols is about to open up a store there. This all makes for prime location for property investors.

Old or new – there’s something for everyone, from ancient Byzantine buildings through to shiny new skyscrapers. Istanbul, the capital city, is the place many investors are talking about – a bridge between Europe and Asia, the city is awash with culture with many people living in Asia and working in Europe. However, this does lead to an immense movement of people each and every day, and the rush hour never seems to end. The city does have an underground system, however locals prefer overground methods of transport such as cars, ferries and trams.  Read more... (618 words, estimated 2:28 mins reading time)

The Turkish Ministry of Forest and Agriculture has revealed a white paper which introduces planning laws up to the year 2025 with the intention of restricting residential construction in the country.

The white paper covers many of the popular tourist areas such as the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines with the aim of protecting these areas from the large increases in property development.

In the past, most areas had been subject to local planning laws and this has led to hundreds of properties being built. The rapid development has led to concerns that the local environments were suffering and the new proposals are set to ensure that countryside remains a beautiful place to be.  Read more... (185 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

After ten years of speculation, the southern Turkish city of Alanya will be building it’s own international airport. The new airport will be built 33km from the tow centre and it is hoped that the airport will be open for flights in mid-2008.

The news of the new airport is good news for foreign property buyers in the area as it is bound to push property prices up. Property in the area has already provided many property investors with good returns over the past few years with capital appreciation in the region of 10-15% per year. With the announcement of the new airport, it is expected that these figures will increase and boost an already buoyant market. It is hoped that tourism in the area will also be boosted – again a boon for property investors as rental demand is likely to increase when the airport opens.  Read more... (351 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

The AK Party has remained in power in Turkey. Despite fears that they would return to their Islamic-style roots, leader Tayyips Erdogan is portraying AKP as a moderate party with aims of justice and development.

It is this aim of development that will catch the eye of foreign property investors. The AKP have been in power for five years and during this time, the property market in Turkey has boomed alongside the economy thanks to free-market policies and economic reforms. Inflation has fallen from around 100% at the end of the nineties to single digits and the number of unemployed has declined dramatically.  Read more... (427 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)