03/09/2010 by writingonproperty
Turkey is continuing to drive forward on its path to one of the world’s greatest emerging markets.
Analysts believe the economy grew 10% in the first half of the year. And reports have emerged that this growth is continuing to fuel employment growth.
The air transportation industry has been an area of particularly strong growth, having continued to grow strongly throughout the downturn, according to Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority.
“Turkish companies turned the crisis into an opportunity by making sponsorship deals and forming international partnerships”, said TCAA general manager Ali Ariduru, highlighting the growth in the country’s air transportation market, unseen in other countries with saturated air transportation markets.
Ariduru also reported that the 17 aviation companies in Turkey have added 54 new planes to the Turkish fleet this year alone.
Other reports tell us that trade between Turkey and Vietnam — another hot emerging market — is to hit 1 billion US Dollars next year. According to official data, trade between the two countries stands at 700 million US Dollars in this year.
Another thing driving growth in the Turkish economy is privatizations. The target was to reach 6.8 billion US Dollars in the value of privatizations this year, and the target has already been smashed in the first 8 months of the year, with 10 billion Dollars worth of privatizations already in place.
It is a joy for us to watch Turkey finally begin to reach its true potential, and receive the recognition and investment in truly deserves.
Tags: Investment, Economy, Government
Posted in Economy, Industry Sectors, Statistics, Trade, Trends | Leave a Comment »
02/09/2010 by writingonproperty
Bosnia Herzegovina will likely become the next country in an announcement of increased trade and or ties with Turkey, after the Turkish President Abdullah Gul visits the country this week.
Gul told reporters that he will meet with his Bosnian counterpart and other high ranking members of the government, to discuss regional, bilateral and world affairs. And also meet with the inter-faith council. He said that he intended to encourage all segments of the Bosnian population to act in mutual understanding and cooperation in the run up to the general election October 3rd.
Gul is also to attend the Turkey-Bosnia-Herzegovina Business Forum in Sarajevo, before proceeding to the city of Mostar. Gül said that the visit will boost ties between the two countries.
During President Gül’s trip, Director General of the Anadolu Agency (AA) Dr. Hilmi Bengi and Director General of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina News Agency (FENA) Zehrudin Isakovic will sign a cooperation agreement.
Gül will also inaugurate the "AA Award Winning Photographs Exhibition" in Sarajevo and participate in a reception to mark the establishment of AA’s new office in Sarajevo.
During the last 18 months Turkey has signed agreements to increase trade and/or ties many countries including: China, India, America, Britain, Russia, Brazil, Albania, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. These included a deal to increase trade with the US by a factor of 3, and free-trade with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and visa-free travel deals with Russia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Albania, Libya, Kosovo and Sudan, as well as a "strategic alliance" with Brazil.
Tags: Agreements, Gul, Politics, Ties
Posted in International Relations, Partnerships, Politics | Leave a Comment »
01/09/2010 by writingonproperty
The Daily Mail has once again testified to the rising popularity of Turkish property with British and global buyers with another sizeable feature on the country in its print and web editions. The title for the piece was a none-downtrodden: Turkey is a shore bet: The holiday home market is thriving on the Turquoise Coast.
The article quoted our very own director Julian Walker as saying:
‘There is a real buzz about Turkey. It’s emerged from recession and powered into 2010 as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, attracting international investment on an unprecedented scale.’
And later in the article:
‘There is a sense that British buyers are becoming more familiar with Turkey. What’s more, the low-cost airlines easyJet and Jet2 have increased the frequency of flights, while Ryanair has signalled a desire to make Turkey the focus of its next round of expansion.
‘Taking it all into account, that is why Turkey is attracting today’s savvy and risk-averse overseas property buyers.’
The Daily Mail has already covered Turkey several times this year including to call Belek the next Algarve, and to comment on the amazing number of foreign owners of Antalya property. This, along with the positive economic data is all increasing confidence, which fuels popularity and sales, and creates a self-perpetuating cycle of growth for the overseas property market in Turkey.
Tags: Property, Spot Blue, Antalya, Daily Mail, Belek
Posted in Antalya, BuyingTurkishProperty, Property | Leave a Comment »
27/08/2010 by writingonproperty
The stability of the Turkish banking sector, the currency, and the growth potential of the economy are continuing to impress global investors, and making its receiving Investment Grade status from the ratings agencies continuously more likely.
"Turkey is Europe’s BRIC," asserted David Cameron on a recent trip to Ankara. For anyone that doesn’t know, BRIC is an acronym of Brazil, Russia, India and China, considered the world’s most powerful emerging markets.
The Turkish economy is growing at the fastest rate in Europe, with year on year growth of 6% in the final quarter of last year, beaten only by the 11.7% year on year growth recorded by Turkey in the first quarter of this year.
Inflation is apparently on course to come down from the current 7.5% to the mid-term target of 5%. With structural reforms akin to those seen in the UK and US after the crunch were made in Turkey during a similar crash in 2001, so liquidity and equity are both running high in the economy. The currency is running very stable against both the pound and dollar.
What’s more Turkey has bypassed the EU to shore up its own growth, with multiple deals to increase trade and bilateral ties in the last 2 years, including a strategic alliance with Brazil, a deal to increase trade with the US by a factor of 3, and a free trade agreement with Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This is of course on top of visa-free agreements with those 3, Albania, Russia, Libya, Kosovo and Sudan.
With all this in Turkey’s column, against an EU near-crumbling at the hands of a sovereign debt crisis no one would have dared suggest we’d see, it is easy to understand why Turkey is standing out to investors as the best place to invest. This was clearly seen recently, when reports emerged that Turkish swaps (insurance against default) were trading at about the same rate as that of Russia — a clear sign that investors believed Turkey was as safe a place to invest as the emerging Russian giant.
Tags: Emerging Markets, Investment, Turkey
Posted in Economy, Industry Sectors, Politics | Leave a Comment »
25/08/2010 by writingonproperty
Like Antalya, Izmir Province has some gorgeous bay-sheltered beaches, but rather than forming a bay, Izmir Province is formed by 2 bays.
Izmir is a large region on Turkey’s Aegean coastline in south west Turkey. Looking round from the south you have Kusadasi, which, like Kas is famed for its peace and quiet, as well as blue skies unhindered by tall structures, affordable luxury villas and great beaches.
Next of note is Izmir, and the back of the first bay, the narrower of the two bays, but also the deepest in terms of its cut into the mainland. Thus, the beaches in Izmir are incredibly sheltered and popular. Izmir is a very wealthy city, with a great way of life, shops and restaurants perfect for the cosmo tourist. It will soon have a marina.
Then you have Cesme on the northerly peninsula (the side of the bay), about an hour away from Izmir. Cesme has been in the news lately because the 15 million euro marina just opened, and is already attracting masses of tourists.
Izmir and Cesme to have marina’s? Yes. In fact Izmir is to become a yachting centre within Turkey. At the Cesme marina opening, Turkish transport minister Binali Yıldırım announced that the government will invest 400 million Euros on making Izmir a yachting centre, first with the expansion of the Cesme marina.
French technopark administrator Cicom is also planning to invest heavily to open another Technopark in Izmir, which will all contribute in making Izmir one of Turkey’s great regions.
Tags: Marinas, Regions, Izmir
Posted in BuyingTurkishProperty, Economy, Izmir, Marinas, Regions | Leave a Comment »
24/08/2010 by writingonproperty
Antalya is one of Turkey’s top regions in terms of tourism and overseas property investment, and, for good reason. Around the world’s coasts, little alcoves and bays make for the best spots because of the shelter and the warm, calm waters. Antalya doesn’t have any sheltered bays, Antalya is a sheltered bay.
The province of Antalya forms an N shape round a large bay to the Mediterranean Sea see picture below. Thus, the towns along the Antalya coast offer some of the best beach spots on Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline — and that is saying something.
Along the west side of the bay you have Kas, 100 miles from the Antalya airport, famed for its peace, quiet tranquillity and high luxury villas for affordable prices.
Where the west side meets the back of the bay, you have the town of the same name (Antalya), which is actually in its own little bay within a bay. Antalya is becoming one of Europe’s great Mediterranean resorts, complete with a wide array of resorts and activities, and with its own international airport — one of the best served in Turkey.
Then you have Belek on the back of the Bay in the middle. Obviously this gives Belek an incredible span of great and sheltered beaches, but Belek is best known as Turkey’s golfing centre, with 21 of Turkey’s 27 golf courses.
All of Antalya’s regions enjoy the typical hot-dry Mediterranean climate, with 300 days of sunshine per year, and property in Antalya, wherever you choose offers some of the best value for money you’ll find on the Mediterranean coasts of Europe.
Tags: Antalya, Property, Turkey
Posted in Antalya, BuyingTurkishProperty | Leave a Comment »
20/08/2010 by writingonproperty
The Turkish Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Board kept the benchmark interest rates unchanged Thursday, with the overnight borrowing rate at 6.50 percent and lending rate at 9 percent.
This is positive news for anyone considering buying a property in Turkey. Because Turkey made banking reforms in the 2001 crisis, liquidity has remained in the Turkish banking systems, and availability of mortgages largely unaffected by the crisis. Thus, foreigners who are able to obtain Turkish mortgages can currently do so very cheaply.
“But it is worth remembering that Turkish banks are reluctant to lend on properties that can not be seen and valued, thus borrowing tends to be on completed properties only,” said Julian Walker, director of Spot Blue.
The board issued a statement saying that a slight fall in foreign demand had been met by a gradual increase in domestic demand, but that: "It is estimated that it would take some time for capacity utilization in the manufacturing sector to return back to pre-crisis levels," it said.
The board also said that despite positive news on the employment front, that joblessness was still too high, and also noted the risks in the shakiness of the international recovery as a whole.
The Central Bank doesn’t expect what it called soaring inflation to come back down until the fourth quarter of this year.
Tags: Central Bank, Interest Rates, mortgages, news, Property
Posted in Mortgage Lending, Property, Statistics, Trends, Turkish property investment | Leave a Comment »
19/08/2010 by writingonproperty
Experts believe demand for property in Turkey will increase as Brits and Europeans continue to feel the pinch from austerity and a weaker-than-expected economic recovery.
Recent news stories in Britain have highlighted low consumer confidence; with many Brits feeling less optimistic and happy about the economy now, than they did at the low point of the recession.
"At least when we were heading down in the recession we knew what to expect, now we are supposed to be recovering and still finding that we have less and less disposable income," says Liam Bailey of Write About Property.
In Britain, the economic recovery is to be "rocky" according to the Bank of England and the government, to make matters worse we have impending austerity measures and higher-than-expected inflation, pushing up the cost of day to day living and reducing disposable income, especially with wages frozen and even reduced for many people. There is a similar picture across Europe.
Spending is definitely reducing, with confidence so low. One thing we saw during the last recession is that most people will hang on to their holidays abroad if at all possible, and so it is likely that we will see more and more people looking to low-cost destinations like Turkey for their holidays.
“For the next few years, because people always want holidays abroad, we will see continued rises in tourism to low-cost destinations like Turkey, and this will also bring increases in demand for holiday homes and holiday home investments in the country, also fuelled by the country’s low prices," Bailey said.
Bailey also said that warnings over disruptions on holidays to Greece, one of Turkey’s main rivals, would further benefit Turkish tourism.
Increased tourism will increase sales of Turkish property, by increasing rental demand, and also because the holiday makers of today tend to be the holiday home buyers of tomorrow. Sales of Turkish property will also benefit from Turkey being in a better fiscal state than its rivals, according to Bailey.
Tags: Europe, Liam Bailey, Property, Tourism, Turkey
Posted in Holidays, Home Sales, Industry Sectors, Property, Tourism | Leave a Comment »
11/08/2010 by sblb
The massive confluence of circumstances this year have caused a bargain bonanza of cheap holidays in Turkey. The travel industry was expecting a turnaround this year from last as the global economy was progressing into recovery, thus they ramped up their offerings.
Then we had the volcanic ash cloud, the mis-fit UK election result and emergency budget, austerity measures, BA strikes, impending public sector job cuts, all of which hampered demand in the travel industry.
According to many in the industry this has led to an upturn in late bookings, and people are booking holidays at discounts of between 20% and 40%. Those leaving it until after the holidays will get discounts of up to 60%.
Clare Banham, from the travel association Abta, said: "We have seen that a lot of people have delayed booking their holidays this year. The vast majority are still travelling, but booking closer to departure. People are getting fantastic value for money."
The Co-Operative Travel said the biggest savings were in the eastern Mediterranean – Paphos, Crete, Zante and Turkey in particular. "We reckon the typical family holiday to these places has fallen by 13.5% on last year – that’s a £232 saving for the average family," said a spokesman.
"Certainly the booking patterns have changed. This has been an unprecedented year for the travel industry."
Oddly enough Turkish tourism is growing this year compared to last year. Although it isn’t odd, because figures have revealed markets like Russia and those in the Middle East making up for any lull in British travellers.
Tags: cheap holidays to turkey, Holidays, Tourism
Posted in Economy, Holidays, Tourism | Leave a Comment »
10/08/2010 by sblb
The latest data from the Turkish tourism ministry confirms that revealed by Turkstat several days ago and covered on this blog, but with some interesting facts picked out.
According to the ministry while Germany continued its reign as biggest tourism market, with 1.68 million visitors in the first half of this year, it was not in the top 3 in June, when Russia sent the highest number of tourists followed by Britain, Iran and Bulgaria. It was also interesting to see that Russia was the second biggest market in the first half of the year, a spot usually held by Britain.
The data showed a 7.6% year on year growth in visitor numbers in June, and a growth of 9.26% year on year for the first half of the year. The total number of visitors in the first half of this year was 11.57million, meaning that if Turkey hits the 4million plus visitors expected for a July and August then we are well on the way to hitting the expected 28-29 million for the year.
The other noteworthy figure from the tourism ministry, was confirmation that the visa-free travel deal with Syria is having the desired effect. According to the data the number of Syrian tourists increased from 179,717 in June last year, to 375,450 in June this year.
All the signs are pointing to 2010 being a very strong year for Turkish tourism — we may even get close to the 30 million target set at the height of the boom.
Tags: Data, Official Figures, Stats, Tourism
Posted in Industry Sectors, Statistics, Tourism, Trends | Leave a Comment »
