ISTANBUL: House sales in Turkey rose 76.1 per centfrom a year earlier in October to 165,138 units due to the so-called base effect, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed on Wednesday.
Mortgaged sales jumped 278 per cent in October to 21,095 units compared to last year, with only a small number of people preferring to buy houses with loans due to the rise in borrowing costs last year.
The central bank hiked its policy rate by 4,150 basis points to 50 per cent since June last year in a tightening cycle that ended in March. Mortgage rates currently on average stand at an annual 41 per cent.
Sales to foreign buyers dropped 16.3 per cent in the same period, standing at 2,122 in October. Russians again topped the list of foreign buyers, purchasing 373 homes in October, followed by buyers from Iran and Ukraine, according to the data.