Buying land to build a second home in Turkey seen as a viable investment option

Buying land and building your own villa in Turkey can be a good long term investment for second home owners and is becoming more popular, it is claimed.

According to Turkish property specialist firm Spot Blue there are increasing numbers of investors looking for alternatives to today’s volatile financial markets and prices in Turkey make a viable option.

‘Opportunities to buy land come in all shapes and sizes, from the large scale urban investment sites to the smaller ones on the edge of resorts suited to individual homes,’ said Julian Walker, director at Spot Blue.
 
‘We’re seeing a consistent demand for land in 2013. Currently, we have a client in the process of buying an 800 square metre plot in Belek for around €110,000, giving the option of building a desirable private villa, or sitting on the plot and waiting to see if its value rises,’ he explained.

‘An example of a deal generating interest from professional or institutional investors is a large site in Bodrum. We can source all types of land, to complement our estate agency business,’ he added.

Turkey’s real estate credentials were recently confirmed by the internationally recognised Knight Frank Global House Price Index, in which the country recorded the seventh highest rise in residential property globally during 2012, up 11.5% and higher than any other European country.

Walker also pointed out that the removal of Turkey’s restrictive reciprocity law last May has driven interest from Middle Eastern buyers in particular. ‘Many of these have long term investment interests and come to us asking for help finding land deals in hot spots, particularly the rapidly developing suburbs of Istanbul where demand for residential housing is booming,’ said Walker.

An example of a site currently available in Istanbul, an increasingly prominent global financial hub which could experience a major uplift if voted in September as host for the 2020 Olympics, is a 56,500 square-metre site in the Basaksehir district. With a purchase price of around £11 million and good connections to the city centre, 40,000 square metres of the site comes with planning permission.

Walker said that buyers of smaller plots for the development of a second home should bear in mind that local building rules dictate how much of a plot can be built on, typically 15 to 20%. In general, areas in and around the centre of a resort, where plot sizes are usually smaller, might get planning permission for anywhere between 30 and 100% of the plot size.

On top of meeting all national and local property regulations, other considerations when choosing a plot in Turkey should include access to main roads and infrastructure, the gradient of a property and exposure to extreme weather conditions, views, the immediate surrounding area and possibility of further developments, and amenities in the wider area.

Walker said that having a reliable contact for the construction of your property and watertight strategy for overseeing the project are also paramount. ‘Bear in mind, as building laws become more stringent in Turkey, plots near a beach that can legally be built on are becoming scarcer and consequently more valuable,’ he pointed out.

‘This makes speaking to experts so important. At Spot Blue, after an initial consultation, we suggest a trip out to Turkey, where we present the best options suited to each individual investor, whether they’re buying land or built property. Key to our service is using our contacts to match buyers with what’s available on the market at that particular time and helping them to navigate the Turkish buying process,’ he added.