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Annual rent increases for new tenants in Türkiye rose by 34.2% as of January 2026, signaling a continued slowdown after a period of rapid growth, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) reported on Tuesday.
The figure, based on the New Tenant Rent Index (NTRI) in its first release by the bank, stood significantly below the Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TurkStat) Real Rent Index, which recorded a higher annual increase of 56.6%. The divergence indicates that rent inflation for newly signed contracts has begun to ease more quickly than broader rental price measures.
In a blog post explaining the need for the NTRI, CBRT economists said the bank developed the index using rental valuation data from housing appraisal reports submitted by banks, allowing it to track rent trends more closely across Türkiye and selected provinces.
According to the analysis, rent inflation accelerated sharply beginning in late 2021 and reached its peak during the second half of 2022. After that period, rent increases began to slow, particularly in Türkiye’s three largest cities.
However, the bank also noted that TurkStat’s Real Rent Index, calculated as part of the consumer price index, continued to accelerate after new-tenant rent increases began to slow, and the study seeks to explain the base effects of this divergence on inflation. Real rent prices have a 6% weight in Türkiye’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, making them one of the most heavily weighted components and a notable contributor to annual inflation.
"With the impact of monetary tightening, annual increase rates entered a downward trend from the last quarter of 2023, and annual increases in the New Tenant Rent Index fell below 40% as of January 2026 across Türkiye and the three largest provinces," it said.
Among the three largest cities, Istanbul recorded the highest rent levels, while Ankara saw the fastest increase. Annual rent growth for new tenants reached 39.83% in Istanbul, 40.77% in Ankara, and 38.92% in Izmir.
According to unit rent data for appraised residential properties, the nationwide average reached ₺224.75 per square meter, equivalent to ₺22,475 ($513.98) for a 100-square-meter residential unit. In major cities, estimated monthly rents for a similarly sized unit stood at ₺36,786 in Istanbul, ₺21,007 in Ankara, and ₺25,218 in Izmir.
Meanwhile, the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI), which measures housing prices across Türkiye, increased by 3.7% month-over-month and 27.7% year-over-year in January 2026, but declined by 2.3% in real terms, the central bank said in a separate release on Tuesday.
Housing prices rose on a monthly basis across Türkiye’s three largest cities, increasing by 3.1% in Istanbul, 3.5% in Ankara, and 3.7% in Izmir compared with the previous month.
On an annual basis, residential property prices increased by 28.7% in Istanbul, 31.7% in Ankara, and 29% in Izmir.
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