Russian property purchases in Türkiye halves in Q1, 2025

The number of properties purchased by Russian citizens in Türkiye fell sharply in the first quarter of 2025. Data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) on April 16 reveals that Russians bought 779 properties in Türkiye between January and March, a steep decline from the 1,361 purchases made during the same period in 2024—nearly a 50% drop.

The number of Russians living in Türkiye has also declined. At the end of 2022, Russians made up the largest group of foreign residents, with 154,000 holding residence permits. As of April 2025, that number has dropped to around 80,000, with citizens from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan now leading in terms of residence permits. Overall, more than 1 million foreigners currently live in Türkiye with legal residency.

The Turkish property market experienced a peak in 2022, when foreigners purchased a record 68,210 homes, with 16,312 of those sold to Russians. Experts now believe that a return to those levels is unlikely in the near future.

Overall foreign property sales also declining

The decline isn’t limited to Russian buyers. Foreign property sales in Türkiye as a whole have decreased by 19.5% year-over-year, with 4,603 homes sold to non-Turkish nationals during the first quarter of 2025.

Top cities for foreign property purchases were Istanbul (1,785), Antalya (1,468), and Mersin (348). Following Russians, the largest groups of foreign buyers were citizens from Iran (448) and Ukraine (304).

Tougher investment requirements

One of the factors contributing to the decline in interest is stricter investment requirements. In October 2023, the Turkish government raised the minimum property investment threshold required to obtain a residence permit to $200,000 across all cities.

Previously, the threshold was $75,000 in major cities and $50,000 in smaller towns. Additionally, the minimum property investment needed for Turkish citizenship was increased from $250,000 to $400,000 in 2022.

Economic instability driving investors away

According to Arsen Ayupov, President of the Russian-Turkish Dialogue Association, economic uncertainty is one of the primary reasons for declining foreign interest in the Turkish real estate market, revealed in a report by Vedomosti. “The lira continues to lose value, inflation remains high, and investment returns are unpredictable,” he said.

Türkiye expert Ekaterina Karaca echoed similar concerns: “Over the past two years, the cost of living in Türkiye has surpassed that of Russia. Istanbul is now 19% more expensive than Moscow.” She added that longer and more complicated processes for obtaining residency and citizenship have further reduced interest.