House Prices in Turkey: Index, Foreign Buyer Rules, Fees
The TCMB house price index in lira, after inflation and in dollars, who buys from abroad, who may buy, and what the title deed costs.
Table of Contents
Three sources shape what a foreign buyer can learn about housing in Türkiye. The central bank publishes an index of house prices, the land registry and cadastre authority (TKGM) counts what foreigners buy, and the law sets who may buy, how much, and which fee applies.
Buying a home in Türkiye, in short
The index shows prices, the law sets the limits.
- Who may buy: nationals of the countries a Presidential decision names, for any kind of property: homes, shops and offices, plots and fields.
- How much: at most 30 hectares per person in the whole country and at most 10% of a district’s privately owned area (Law 2644, art. 35).
- Title deed fee: 2% of the declared value from the buyer and 2% from the seller, on a value that cannot be below the property tax value (Law 492).
- Citizenship by property: at least USD 400,000 and a three-year no-sale note in the register. Farmland and plots without a building have not counted since 12.12.2023.
The house price index, three ways
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) publishes a residential property price index every month, with 2023 as 100. The four buildings below stand for Türkiye, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir on the same street. Pick a month, and each building shows the index since then. The dashed line is the starting level.
TCMB house price index
Four buildings, three ways to count
| Place | In lira | After inflation | In US dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Türkiye | +224% | −11% | +24% |
| Istanbul | +198% | −18% | +14% |
| Ankara | +279% | +4% | +46% |
| Izmir | +214% | −13% | +21% |
Residential property price index (2023 = 100), TCMB, as served by the Turkpidya data service. Latest month: September 2026, published 16 October 2026. Euros, rents and a table of every month.
The index follows valuation reports, not sales. TCMB builds it from the values that real estate appraisal companies put on homes when a bank approves a mortgage loan, whether or not the sale or the loan goes ahead, and it adjusts for the features of each home. It is an index of valued prices, so it shows the direction of the market and not the price of any one home. TCMB metadata.
The three lenses use one index. In lira is the change as published. After inflation divides that change by the change in the consumer price index of TÜİK, Türkiye’s statistics institute. In US dollars divides it by the change in the lira–dollar rate at the end of each month, from TCMB’s exchange rates. The Turkpidya data service makes these calculations.
Who buys from abroad
TKGM, the land registry and cadastre authority, runs a portal for foreign buyers called Your Key Türkiye. Its statistics page counts independent sections bought by foreigners. An independent section (bağımsız bölüm) is a flat or other unit with its own entry in the register.
TKGM statistics
Where foreigners bought
Independent sections bought by foreigners, per calendar year and in total.
- 37,3122023
- 26,6482024
- 24,0842025
Ten provinces
- İstanbul111,768
- Antalya83,351
- Mersin14,618
- Bursa12,274
- Ankara10,732
- Muğla9,112
- Yalova8,452
- Aydın6,676
- İzmir6,206
- Trabzon4,690
Ten nationalities
- Russian Federation44,770
- Iran28,092
- Iraq22,238
- Germany14,559
- Saudi Arabia11,673
- Kuwait11,213
- Ukraine10,391
- United Kingdom9,925
- Azerbaijan8,332
- Afghanistan7,674
Total to 30 September 2026: 275,496 independent sections. Rankings are TKGM’s running totals (“bugüne kadar”, to date) in the order the portal gives them. Circles grow with the count. Select a province for its share. TKGM, Your Key Türkiye, statistics. Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Checked 20.10.2026.
The year figures are complete calendar years. The counts cover independent sections only: TKGM counts plots and fields separately.
Who may buy, and how much
Law 2644 (the Land Registry Law) sets the rule in article 35. TKGM’s portal repeats it for foreign natural persons.
The limits, Law 2644 art. 35
- Nationality
- Nationals of the countries a Presidential decision names.
- Per person
- At most 30 hectares in the whole country. The President may raise this to twice that.
- Per district
- At most 10% of the district’s privately owned area.
- Kinds of property
- Any kind: homes, shops and offices, plots and fields.
Law 2644, mevzuat.gov.tr; TKGM portal. Checked 20.10.2026.
Zones and unbuilt land
- Military zones
- Military prohibited and security zones are marked in each property’s register entry. The title deed office informs the buyer.
- Special security zones
- A property inside one needs the permission of the governor’s office.
- Unbuilt land
- The buyer must submit the project for the plot to the ministry within two years. If the buyer does not, or does not finish it, the plot falls under the liquidation rules.
Law 2644 art. 35; TKGM portal. Checked 20.10.2026.
The way to the deed
TKGM publishes two step templates. One is for an ordinary purchase by a foreign natural person, the other for a purchase made to qualify for citizenship. Switch between them below.
Title deed
Eight steps, or ten
Buying a home
- You agree on the property to buy.
- No valuation report is needed. TKGM says the requirement was removed for purchases by foreign natural persons. Purchases made for citizenship use a Tutar Tespit Belgesi (TTB) instead.
- You apply to the title deed office with the required documents. The foreign-currency purchase certificate (döviz alım belgesi) goes in through KEP, the registered electronic mail system.
- The office checks the documents. If they are complete, it starts the transaction. If something is missing, you get an SMS.
- If the conditions are met, the title deed fee and the revolving fund fee are sent to you by SMS.
- After you pay, the system notifies the office.
- The deed is prepared, and an SMS tells you what time to come and sign.
- You sign, and the title deed goes to the owner or the owner’s representative.
Buying for citizenship
- You agree on the property or properties. Their total value must be at least USD 400,000.
- A valuation report is ordered through WebTapu for the TTB, the document that confirms the investment amount.
- You apply to the title deed office with the required documents. The foreign-currency purchase certificate goes in through KEP.
- The office checks the certificate, the deed or sale promise contract and the bank receipt against the regulation’s criteria, and that the TTB confirms the values.
- If the conditions are met, the title deed fee and the revolving fund fee are sent to you by SMS.
- After you pay, the system notifies the office. The deed is prepared, and an SMS tells you what time to come and sign.
- You sign and the contract is complete. A note that the property will not be sold for three years is entered in the register, and the title deed is handed over.
- The office reports the file through the system to TKGM’s General or Regional Directorate to issue a Taşınmaz Yatırımı Tespit Belgesi (property investment determination certificate).
- The Directorate checks the file and issues the certificate.
- The certificate goes to the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs and to the Presidency of Migration Management by letter, and to you by e-mail.
TKGM’s step templates, foreign natural persons and citizenship by property. Checked 20.10.2026.
Citizenship and residence through property
Owning a home can also lead to a status in Türkiye. Citizenship has its own regulation, and the residence permit its own article in the Law on Foreigners.
Citizenship by property
- Amount
- At least USD 400,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency, in one property or several. Regulation art. 20(2)(b), as TKGM quotes it.
- No-sale note
- A note that the property will not be sold for three years goes into the register.
- TTB
- A Tutar Tespit Belgesi from a valuation company authorised by the Capital Markets Board confirms the amount. The gap between the TTB and the application may not exceed twelve months.
- Land
- Since 12.12.2023, farmland and plots without a building cannot be used. A plot must have a building on it.
- USD 250,000
- TKGM says the route at this amount has ended.
TKGM, citizenship by property and TTB. Checked 20.10.2026.
Residence permit, Law 6458
- The ground
- Article 31(1)(b) of Law 6458 lets foreigners who own real estate in Türkiye receive a short-term residence permit.
- The property
- Article 31(6), added on 21.11.2024, has the Ministry set the nature and value of the property for this permit.
- The conditions
- The Presidency of Migration Management says the property must be a home used for that purpose. Family members who co-own the home can apply too.
Law 6458, mevzuat.gov.tr; goc.gov.tr, residence FAQ. Checked 20.10.2026.
What the title deed costs
The title deed fee is set by Law 492 on Fees. It is charged on the declared value of the sale, and the value may not be below the property tax value (emlak vergisi değeri). The law charges it separately to the person who transfers the property and the person who receives it.
Law 492 on Fees
2% from the buyer, 2% from the seller.
The rate: The tariff text reads “binde 20”, twenty per thousand, for the transferor and for the transferee separately. A Council of Ministers decision of 2012 set it. The President may raise it by up to one-fold, which means up to double, or lower it to one-tenth.
The base: The declared value, “emlak vergisi değerinden az olmamak üzere”, which means not below the property tax value. Law 7566 of 4 December 2025 changed the wording of the tariff item to put the property tax value first.
Afterwards: If a lower base is found, or the declared value was untrue, the fee on the difference is assessed with a tax-loss penalty of one-fold. Law 7566 replaced “25%” with “one-fold” in this sentence.
Law 492, consolidated text, art. 63 and tariff (4), mevzuat.gov.tr. Checked 20.10.2026.
Before you sign, the title deed office notifies you of the fee and the revolving fund fee by SMS.
Sources
Prices are from TCMB’s index, sales counts from TKGM’s portal and the rules from the laws and the portal’s pages. Checked 20.10.2026.
Open the source list
- Residential property price index, with RPPI metadata – TCMB, checked 20.10.2026
- Residential property price index in the Turkpidya data service – Turkpidya data service, from TCMB EVDS, TÜİK consumer prices and TCMB exchange rates, checked 20.10.2026
- Statistics – TKGM, Your Key Türkiye, checked 20.10.2026
- Foreign natural persons: acquiring real estate – TKGM, Your Key Türkiye, checked 20.10.2026
- Acquisition of citizenship – TKGM, Your Key Türkiye, checked 20.10.2026
- Appraisal report (TTB) – TKGM, Your Key Türkiye, checked 20.10.2026
- Land Registry Law, Law 2644, art. 35, consolidated text – mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 20.10.2026
- Law on Fees, Law 492, art. 63 and tariff (4), consolidated text – mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 20.10.2026
- Law on Foreigners and International Protection, Law 6458, art. 31 – mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 20.10.2026
- Residence permit, frequently asked questions – Presidency of Migration Management (goc.gov.tr), checked 20.10.2026
- Natural Earth: 1:50m country outline and 1:10m province label points – Natural Earth, public domain, checked 20.10.2026
The cover illustration was drawn for this article.
