Istanbul Regional Information

Istanbul is Turkey's largest city even though it is not the Capital. It sits right on the point where Europe meets Asia and has straddled both continents for centuries, initially as Byzantium and then as Constantinople. For anyone who knows their history, this grand city has had long periods of its past as the greatest city on Earth, and still carries the monuments and trophies to prove it.

These days Istanbul is home to an official population of around 12 million with some estimates as high as 16 million and is the powerhouse of the Turkish economy. Whilst most people look towards the coast when in investing in property in Turkey, they fail to spot the potential in a market where mortgages are about to become available for the first time in history to the Turkish population. Millions of Istanbul residents are hoping to become home-owners at some time over the next couple of years and this has led to a shortage of suitable housing in the city. At a property fair in Istanbul that we attended in March 2006, we witnessed first hand the size and speed of this local market; developers with huge new out of town projects were typically selling up to 100 units at this 3 day event and many were over-subscribed for their future projects.

Istanbul