Milliyet – The coming influx of new players, strong demand in retail and office space and a key geostrategic location supplemented with a positive economic outlook will keep the investor interest up in Türkiye’s real estate market, according to a recent report by the global real estate services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
In its Türkiye Real Estate Overview report covering the first half of 2013, JLL Türkiye predicts new entrants in the form of new office complexes, hotels, and shopping malls, creating renewed dynamism and liquidity in the market.
Observing the major transactions in the last 6-8 months, the report states that the investment market gained significant liquidity with changes in ownership in various shopping malls, giving Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC’s acquisition of stakes in two shopping centers in Istanbul and Ankara as the latest example. More transactions are expected in this field before the end of the year as more shopping malls are on the market, the report stated.
“As of the second half of 2013, Türkiye’s total shopping center gross leasable area, comprising 336 shopping malls, is around 8.9 million square meters. This figure will rise to 12 million square meters with the completion of 88 new projects by 2016.”, JLL Türkiye Chairman Avi Alkas commented on the report’s findings. Türkiye’s growing population and increasing purchasing power are the major factors positively affecting retail demand prospects in the medium to long term, the report read.
The supply of office space has increased by six-fold when compared to the first half of 2012 with a steady line of projects in the pipeline, according to the report, which forecasted a wave of international investments channeling in to the Turkish office market in the coming years.
Focusing on Istanbul, the report points to the latest developments in hospitality sector, namely the opening of new brand name hotels Shangri-La Bosphorus, Wyndham Kalamis Marina and Radisson Blue Pera in various parts of the city, with many more set to open in the second half.
Türkiye’s property market was ranked as the second most attractive in Europe for real estate investors by another international services firm, Ernst & Young, early this year.
The country’s megacity Istanbul is especially a trendy among international real estate investors, as it was ranked first in “Development Prospects” according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), also dated early this year.