Post-quake rebuilding helps cool rent inflation

ANKARA

The post-earthquake decline in housing stock had an adverse impact on rent inflation in the earthquake zone as well as in a number of other provinces due to migration flows, shows a study published on the blog of the Turkish Central Bank.

During the ongoing disinflation process in Türkiye, rents have continued to exhibit considerable rigidity, said the authors of the study.

One factor contributing to this persistence was the loss of housing stock following the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes, compounded by migration from the earthquake zone to other provinces, the study noted.

“However, we see that the rent inflation in the earthquake zone has slowed significantly amid the sharp increase in housing supply owing to the government-led reconstruction activities, and this slowdown has become visible in the indirectly affected provinces as well in 2026,” researchers at the bank said.

The fact that the construction sector capacity has been shifting from the earthquake zone to non-earthquake provinces indicates that the rise in housing supply may spread across a wider area,” the study added.

“Against this background, the improvement in housing supply will be among the factors that can support the slowdown in rent inflation in the period ahead,” it said.