Property in Istanbul. Investment property in Istanbul

Istanbul stands out from the crowd as giving the best investment opportunities in Europe offering low risk and high growth, with previous property investors seeing a growth of 42% since February last year.

Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) named property in Istanbul as Europe's top performing hotspot for overall growth and for capital returns last year. The reasons behind the growth of the investment property market in Istanbul are based on solid facts of supply and demand, population growth and availability of finance, i.e. real social factors as opposed to the speculative factors that are so often given for many other property markets.

Istanbul is an ancient and historic city and today 15 million people are trying to live in a space built to hold a fraction of that number. The government has instituted enormous plans to revolutionise the way people live in and move around the city. Key to this is the creation of two major new overflow suburbs, one built to the West around Bahcesehir, the second to the South around the Kurtkoy/Pendik area.

Major new transport routes are joining these outlying suburbs to the rest of the city and it is these areas that the government foresees as becoming the future residential heartlands of Istanbul. Whole sectors of society are now moving out of the crowded city centre to these well planned satellite districts that offer a far more comfortable lifestyle with their well-organised streets, parks and leisure facilities. These are aspirational areas highly desired by thewealthy middle class masses.

Istanbul won the European City of Culture 2010 - for Liverpool this represented £2 billion of investment in cultural and tourism infrastructure, 14,000 new jobs and an extra £220 million spent by tourists up to and beyond 2008.

Turkey has experienced uninterrupted growth for 22 consecutive quarters due to direct foreign investment. This resilient and growing economy has led to the development of large shopping malls and a booming increase in western franchises such as Starbucks. It is estimated that overall growth in the market for property in Istanbul during 2008 would not be less than 20%.

Foreign direct investment topped $20 billion in 2006 and has nearly doubled in 2007, with large investment in the Banking, Telcoms and Construction sectors.

Property in Istanbul's housing market in existing suburbs tends to come from an era that paid little attention to quality and overall infrastructure. Istanbul has the lowest ratio of m2 green space per head of population of any European city by far and is a concrete-bound urban jungle with very little parking space.

Bahcesehir, the "Garden City" stands in stark contrast with its well planned street design, open spaces and up market facilities. It is an area that affluent middle class Turks might aspire to live in, looking for a greener and mobile less stressful environment in which to raise their families without forsaking the leisure, shopping and recreation facilities normally only found in central districts. Therefore, developments offering parks and leisure facilities are going to be very attractive to local buyers

Istanbul’s Akkoza Project in Bahcesehir will be based on a theme similar to central park in New York - an enormous park-like environment incorporating facilities such as swimming pools, gardens, covered parking and fitness centres. It is hard to overstate the value of such a prestigious development in the context of property in Istanbul. Also in the Garden District of Bahcesehir is the Spradon Development, which offers a range of luxury villas, apartments and duplexs set within landscaped gardens with plenty of leisure facilities to keep residents entertained.

Another two top investment projects in Istanul are: The Innovia Project and Larasu, which currently offers a 35% price increase guarantee

'My World', Asian side, Istanbul >>

The Akmerkez shopping centre in Etiler, Istanbul, has for many years been recognised as Turkey's premier shopping centre. Shortly after opening it was awarded the "best shopping centre in Europe award" in 1995, followed the next year by the "best shopping centre in the world" award. This successful formula attracts an amazing, 15 million visitors per month.

Investment Property in Istanbul >>