Home prices, rents skyrocket in Turkey amid economic turmoil
Economic turmoil driven by inflation of 85% has plunged Turkey into one of its worst property crises
ISTANBUL (AP) — Hatice Erdal has been given a week to vacate her rental house that is due to be knocked down. The cleaner and her husband both earn minimum wage, and even with their combined salaries, they cannot find anything within their budget in Istanbul’s exorbitant housing market.
“I found a house, it was 12,000 lira ($645), another one was 10,000 lira ($537). I can’t pay that. ... What will I eat and drink?” Erdal said of monthly rents. “If the weather was warm, I’d live in a tent, but I can’t do that either. I don’t know what I will do.”
Economic turmoil driven by eye-watering inflation of nearly 85% has plunged Turkey into one of its worst property crises. Skyrocketing prices have made finding affordable housing to rent or buy an uphill battle for many, especially for millions of people earning a monthly minimum wage of 5,500 lira ($295) who also struggle to cover costs for food, energy and other expenses.
While increasing construction costs and inflation have pushed up housing prices globally, Turkey’s property crisis has been exacerbated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox policy of lowering interest rates despite high inflation — the opposite of traditional economic thinking. That has pushed many to invest in property to preserve their savings against rising inflation. With housing in short supply, prices have soared.
