Turkey Property Investment Recommended by GPG and Me

The well respected Global Property Guide publication has given a glowing recommendation for investment in Turkish property, particularly Istanbul.

According to the firm's research for its mid-year investment recommendations, yields on Turkish property in Istanbul are currently averaging 5.48%, which is higher than average yields in Italy (5.04%), France (3.85%), Spain (3.81%) and Portugal (3.63%).

These yields, as with most -- if not all -- of the GPG rental yield figures is based on residential rentals, which means they do not give a clear indication as to the kind of yields a holiday property might make, which can often by higher than residential yields depending on a number of factors.

This is unfortunate, because most overseas buyers of Turkish property are currently aiming at holiday lets, and there have been several reports of those buyers earning yields of 6% net.

Basically, yields on holiday property in Turkey will tent to be higher, because property in the touristic areas tends to be cheaper than that found in Istanbul, while rental rates on holiday lets tend to be higher, which can actually be higher than residential rents in Istanbul or the same depending on the property and exact locations in question.

Given these truths it is only a matter of how much paying occupancy the holiday home owners can achieve, which then depends on the amount of time they want to spend in the property.

The best strategy for holiday home investors in Turkish property, like those anywhere else in the world is to rent out the property for the entire season and use it during low season. This is a problem for some owners who don't do sufficient research and subsequently find out that the area they have bought in is completely closed off during low season, with not even so much as a shop to buy essentials like milk.

This is in fact one of the reasons why Turkey is currently seeing its popularity with this type of investor soar: because most buyers are currently doing a lot of research, they are finding out that most of Turkey's touristic areas are open all-year round.