Semih Sarıalioğlu; I would like to tell you about the recent developments in the real estate market and the impact of these developments on the demand for land. As you know, the increase in housing prices and the rise in interest rates make it increasingly difficult to own a house. This has caused many people to re-evaluate their real estate investments and there has been a huge increase in demand for land.
In the past year, house prices have increased by 43% across the country. However, the increase in land prices stands out with a very high rate of 63%. This data shows that investors who cannot access housing prices prefer land. As a matter of fact, the number of land advertisements on real estate platforms has increased by 25% in the last 6 months.
We observe a significant increase in land advertisements especially in the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean regions. Provinces such as Istanbul, Izmir, Çanakkale, Trabzon, Tekirdağ and Antalya are leading in the number of advertisements. He emphasizes that in the current market conditions, land and field investments offer high return potential in the long term. In the last year, we see that land prices have increased by 63%, field prices by 54%, commercial real estate prices by 44% and housing prices by 43% across Turkey. These increases show that interest in land investments is on the rise and this trend will continue if the stagnation in the housing market continues.
Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute also supports this. In 2023, compared to 2022, housing sales fell by 17.5% to 1 million 225 thousand 926 units. On the other hand, land, field and commercial real estate sales reached a record high of 1 million 426 thousand 146 units. In June, house sales decreased by 5.2% compared to the same period of the previous year and remained at 79,313 units. This data clearly shows how difficult it has become to access housing.
In summary, given the current economic conditions, it seems that land and field investments will continue to be preferred by more investors. We are closely following the activity in this area and would like to keep you informed about these opportunities.