Rent prices in Antalya skyrocket due to war

Housing rent prices in the Mediterranean province of Antalya have skyrocketed from 2,500 to around 10,000 Turkish Liras (from $170 to nearly $680) due to high demand from Ukrainians and Russians, Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) executive Mustafa Ayanoğlu has said.

"Interest of Russians and Ukrainians, who were seeking a safe place, increased. Thus, [the average] rent price for a house increased from 2,500 or 3,000 liras to around 10,000 liras," he told Demirören News Agency.

"The major reason behind rising rent prices is the war. Local residents have been affected badly," he added.
Some furnished houses are being rented to foreigners for exorbitant prices, said Ayanoğlu.

"These houses could even be rented for 40,000 liras a month," he noted.

Real estate agency representative Ömür Kuşçalar said that demand for houses has doubled in recent weeks, particularly because of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territories on Feb. 24.

"Rent prices have risen around 300 percent," he said, adding that around 7 out of every 10 customers seeking a dwelling are either Ukrainian or Russian.

İnna Özderin, a Ukrainian national who has worked as a property market consultant in Antalya for 17 years, said that they are working hard to find homes for families fleeing Ukraine.

"It's very difficult to survive in Ukraine now. It's very distressing and hard," she said.

According to official data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Russians purchased 1,535 properties in Turkey in the first quarter of this year, up from 938 in the same period in 2021.

In the first three months, Ukrainians bought 381 properties in Turkey, up from 222 in the first quarter of last year.

In March alone, 168...