Real estate market

Contrary to what has been expected, the increase in interest rates for home equity loans did not have a negative impact on demand for housing in the first quarter of this year, reported Turkey's monthly business and economy magazine Capital. Turkey has an annual housing deficit of 700,000 units. Therefore, the country's real estate sector cannot stall, said Avni Çelik, chairman of Sinpaş Group, one of Turkey's residential and commercial construction firms. In this respect, the government has a very important role in the implementation of the necessary and much needed regulations in the sector. “The existence of the Mass Housing Administration (TOKİ) under the rule of Prime Ministry harms the competitiveness in the real estate sector as they have several financial privileges,” Çelik had told daily Milliyet on April 17 last year. The real estate sector, which has a direct and indirect impact on more than 100 sectors including media and construction, continues to be the key sector of the Turkish economy with its 15 percent growth rate, reported Capital. All the big projects and infrastructure investments planned in the sector continue at a fast pace, said Atalay Şahinoğlu, board chairman of Nuh Çimento, one of Turkey's largest companies operating in the cement sector. Noting that he agrees with Çelik he said, “I presume that the number of investors is likely to rise.”