Turks Are Latest to Rebel Over Foreigners Buying Homes, Want Ban
Turks overwhelmingly favor a ban on home sales to foreigners, a view that straddles the country’s political divide and echoes the backlash against a deluge of buyers in countries from Canada to Portugal.
About 79% of Turkish citizens think home sales to foreign nationals should be banned, according to a survey by Metropoll. The view was widely shared across the political spectrum, with more than 77% of those who voted for the ruling AK Party in 2018 voicing their support.
Frustration is bubbling over in some of the world’s hottest housing markets that have seen outside demand drive up prices and make local property harder to afford for citizens. In 2022, Canada banned most foreigners from purchasing homes for two years, while Portugal is under pressure from public opinion to roll back incentives.
New Zealand’s banned foreigners from buying existing homes in 2017. Such measures have previously done little to curb prices in places like Hong Kong and Australia.
The issue could also take on political dimensions in Turkey with just over a month left before elections in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a third term in office. Earlier in March, Erdogan’s ruling AK Party and its ally in parliament rejected a motion by one of the biggest opposition groups to examine the impact of sales to foreigners.
Property purchases by foreigners have been a source of much-needed hard currency for successive AK Party governments at a time when foreign direct investment and flows into stocks and bonds have dwindled over the past years.