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Türkiye's housing market cooled sharply in May, with total home sales falling below the 100,000 mark for the first time in nearly two years as an extended holiday period disrupted activity across the country.
A total of 93,333 homes changed hands in May, down 31.2% from the same month last year, marking the lowest monthly figure since June 2024, when sales stood at 82,924.
The decline was largely linked to official holidays and a nine-day Eid al-Adha break during the month. However, even after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects, housing sales eased 6.1% year-on-year to 137,782.
Demand from overseas buyers stayed subdued, as foreign home purchases dropped 27% annually to 1,387 units in May, accounting for 1.5% of all residential sales during the month.
Russian citizens remained the largest group of foreign buyers with 268 purchases, followed by Iranians with 125 and Ukrainians with 88. In the first five months of the year, foreign home sales fell 15.1% from the same period of 2025 to 7,068 units.
Overall housing sales between January and May reached 569,537 units, down 6.6% year-on-year. First-hand sales accounted for 31.3% of the total, while second-hand transactions made up 68.7%.
Mortgage-backed home sales moved against the broader trend, climbing 25.8% in the first five months to 116,801 units. Other, mainly cash-based, transactions slipped 12.4% to 452,736.
Data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) showed the Residential Property Price Index rose 1.7% month-on-month and 24.5% annually in May. Adjusted for inflation, however, residential property prices were 6.1% lower than a year earlier.
Among the country's three largest cities, housing prices increased 2.1% in Istanbul and 1.5% in Ankara from the previous month, while Izmir recorded a 0.1% decline. On an annual basis, prices rose 25.4% in Istanbul, 27.3% in Ankara and 22.8% in İzmir.
The new tenant price index also edged up 1.9% from April. Annual growth reached 30.4% in nominal terms, though rents were down 1.7% in real terms.
Monthly increases stood at 3.1% in Istanbul, 1.1% in Ankara and 1% in Izmir. Annual gains were 36.7%, 33.8% and 30.2%, respectively.
Separately, workplace sales dropped 30.9% year-on-year in May to 11,434 units. During the January-May period, total commercial property sales declined 9.7% to 68,963 units. Of those transactions, 27.2% were first-hand sales and 72.8% were second-hand deals.
Mortgage-backed workplace sales jumped 62.6% to 3,260 units in the first five months, while other sales fell 11.7% to 65,703.
Central bank data showed the Commercial Property Price Index rose 7.7% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2026, posting an annual increase of 31% in nominal terms while remaining flat in real terms.
During the same period, the Retail Property Price Index increased 7.4% from the previous quarter and 31.2% from a year earlier, translating into a 0.1% real gain.
The Office Price Index climbed 10% quarter-on-quarter and 30.3% annually, though it posted a 0.5% decline in real terms.
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