Annual decline in home prices in real terms continues

ISTANBUL

The annual decline in home prices in Türkiye in real terms continues in April, according to the numbers from the Central Bank on May 20.

The residential property price index (RPPI) increased monthly by 1.5 percent, and recorded an annual increase of 32.9 percent in nominal terms.

The index decreased 3.6 percent in real terms compared to April 2024, said the bank.

The pace of decline in home prices in real terms, however, slowed from the 4.2 percent in the previous month, when the RPPI rose 32.3 percent year-on-year and 2 percent month-on-month in nominal terms.

In Istanbul, home prices surged 34.4 percent annually and 2.7 percent from March in nominal terms, while the annual and monthly increases in the capital Ankara were nearly 42 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

In İzmir, the country’s third-largest city, home prices rose by 30.9 percent from a year ago but were almost unchanged compared to March, showed the bank data.

The RPPI for new dwellings was up 32.28 percent year-on-year in April, slowing from the 33.4 percent increase recorded in the previous month.

Prices of new dwellings across the country rose by 0.85 percent month-on-month, after rising 2.65 percent in March.

The annual increase in the price index for existing dwellings, on the other hand, accelerated from 31.9 percent in March to 32.99 percent in April, while the monthly increase in this index slowed from 1.85 percent to 1.77 percent.

House sales soared 56.6 percent on an annual basis in April, the country’s statistical bureau TÜİK reported last week.

A total of 118,359 houses changed hands in Türkiye last month.

Most experts link the strong demand in the housing market to elevated rent prices.

People prefer to buy a house by using their savings and taking out loans from banks instead of paying high rents, according to the representatives of the industry.

Potential homebuyers are acting now as they anticipate that home prices will start to pick up again.

Mortgaged home sales surged 147 percent annually to 17,465, accounting for nearly 15 percent of all sales in the housing market in April.

During January-April, house sales totaled 454,145 units, up 27.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024.

In the first four months of 2025, mortgage-financed home sales soared 99.4 percent from a year ago to 69,194.