The district of Fatih, located within Istanbul’s city walls, is one of the favourite residential locations in the city. With two hospitals, numerous public institutions and some 400,000 residents, there are plenty of opportunities for international real estate investors. One part of Fatih, the Balat area, has even been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Turkish Daily News notes that there are plenty of buildings and apartments of all sizes for all kinds of budgets. A 200 year old mansion with 12 bedrooms is available for $3.25 million, while an older apartment that will need restoration goes for as low as YTL 50,000 (New Turkish Lira), or about $38,000 US.
New apartments in recently completed buildings cost about YTL 500,000 ($377,000), while duplex apartments are going for YTL 800,000 ($602,000), according to Ceyhan Demirlikan of Mavia Real Estate in Fatih. She adds that real estate is more valuable on main streets like Vatan, Millet, Akdeniz, Balipaşa, Halıcılar and Akşemseddin. Older apartments cost YTL1,700 per square meter and more on average, and many of them are old buildings.
Another part of the city, Arnavutköy township -not to be confused with the Arnavutköy that is on the Bosporus – has seen property rates rise substantially. This less developed, industrial part of the city with 100,000 residents has seen property prices rise in value over the past several years. Arnavutköy township is located near Gaziosmanpaşa in Istanbul and has almost 100,000 inhabitants. Abdülkadir Baykay of Beyat Real Estate says that a piece of property sold last year for YTL 50,000 today costs YTL 100,000.
