Where Turkish Buyers Are Buying Property Abroad in 2026

Published on: July 24, 2026

Last verified: 24 July 2026. Figures are drawn from central bank and industry sources and may be revised. Verify before acting.

Quick answer: Turkish residents spent a record US$2.675 billion on property abroad in 2025, according to Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) balance-of-payments data, up from just US$216 million in 2021. 2025 was also the first year in which Turkish outbound property investment exceeded what non-residents spent buying property inside Türkiye. The two dominant destinations are Dubai and Greece, with London a distinct third corridor. Typical purchase sizes run from €250,000 to €1 million, averaging around €500,000. Momentum carried into early 2026, January purchases were up 44.4% year on year, before regional conflict disrupted the Gulf channel from March.

For a decade the story of Turkish real estate was inbound: foreigners buying in Istanbul and Antalya. That story has now inverted. This is what the data shows.

The numbers

TCMB publishes payments made by Turkish residents to acquire real estate abroad as part of its balance-of-payments statistics. It is the most reliable single series on this question, and the trajectory is unusually steep.

That is roughly a twelvefold increase in four years. Within 2025:

• The monthly peak was August, at US$288 million.
• The December figure was US$252 million.
• The monthly average ran around US$223 million.

The most significant structural marker came in the annual comparison: at US$2.675 billion outbound against approximately US$2.3 billion spent by non-residents buying inside Türkiye, 2025 was the first year the flow reversed. Türkiye became a net exporter of residential property capital.

Early 2026

The trend accelerated into the new year before being interrupted.

• January 2026: US$208 million, up 44.4% year on year
• February 2026: US$225 million, up 18.4% year on year

From March 2026 onward, purchases declined. According to Anadolu Agency reporting, the fall followed regional escalation beginning 28 February 2026 that affected Gulf states, which, per the Real Estate Service Exporters' Association (GİGDER), effectively halted purchases in the Dubai market, Türkiye's single largest outbound destination. Over the same March to May window, non-resident purchases inside Türkiye rose 28.3% year on year to US$590 million, partially unwinding the 2025 reversal.

The lesson embedded in that reversal is worth stating plainly: outbound Turkish demand is concentrated enough in one destination that a single regional shock can move the national total.

Where the money goes

Dubai

The largest destination by volume. The appeal is straightforward and well understood by Turkish investors: dollar-linked pricing through the AED peg, no personal income tax or capital gains tax on property, full freehold ownership in designated zones, high gross rental yields, and a residency route tied to property investment. For a buyer whose core problem is currency exposure, Dubai solves it more directly than any European market.

It is also the destination most exposed to regional risk, as the March 2026 data demonstrated.

Greece

The second major destination, and the one where the data is most granular.

Turkish buyers put €214 million into individual property purchases in Greece, accounting for more than 90% of all Turkish foreign direct investment into the country. Turkish spending represented roughly 9.4% of the total overseas property spend.

The Golden Visa is central to this. Greece has hosted more than 27,000 Golden Visa investors, and Turkish nationals account for 17.6% of all applications. In 2025, Greece approved 8,879 new residence permits, of which 3,291 went to Turkish investors, a 160% increase year on year, placing Türkiye second overall among applicant nationalities.

Turkish buying in Greece concentrates in Athens, with meaningful activity in Piraeus, Thessaloniki and several Aegean islands, areas selected for rental demand and growth potential rather than pure holiday use. Proximity matters: Athens is a short flight, the islands are reachable by ferry, and the cultural and culinary distance is small.

London and the UK

A smaller corridor by transaction count but significant by value, and different in character. London purchases skew toward capital preservation, education-driven relocation and long-horizon family planning rather than yield.

The wider map

Northern Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, Georgia and Montenegro all appear in Turkish outbound flows at varying scale: Northern Cyprus and Georgia at much lower entry prices, Spain and Portugal for buyers prioritising EU access and market depth.

Why Turkish buyers are moving capital abroad

The drivers are consistent across the market commentary and the data.

Currency and inflation hedging. The dominant motive. Converting Turkish lira exposure into a hard-currency or euro-denominated asset is the primary function of these purchases. This is capital preservation before it is investment.

Lengthening domestic payback periods. As Turkish house prices rose faster than rents, the time required for a property to pay for itself through rental income extended significantly, weakening the domestic investment case relative to foreign markets offering shorter payback.

Foreign-currency income. A euro or dollar rent stream is worth more to a lira-based household than the nominal yield alone suggests.

Residency and mobility. The Greek Golden Visa numbers make this explicit. Turkish demand is substantially residency-linked, not purely financial: Schengen access, visa-free mobility and an option on relocation are part of what is being purchased.

Life planning. Market practitioners describe a recurring pattern in which investments along the Dubai–Athens–London corridor convert into actual family relocation within a relatively short period. The purchase is often the first step of a move rather than a portfolio allocation.

The ticket size

Turkish buyers abroad typically transact between €250,000 and €1 million, with an average around €500,000, per GİGDER. That places them above the entry-level tier in most destination markets and squarely in the segment that qualifies for residency-by-investment thresholds in Greece and the UAE, which is unlikely to be a coincidence.

What Turkish buyers should check before purchasing

None of the following is unique to Turkish buyers, but each is regularly underestimated.

Your Turkish tax position does not disappear. Turkish tax residents are, as a general principle, taxable on worldwide income, including foreign rental income and gains, with relief available under the applicable double-taxation treaty. Foreign purchases are not outside the Turkish tax system, and Türkiye participates in international financial account information exchange. Model the total tax cost, not just the local one. See our guide to net after-tax rental yield for the mechanics.

Local rules on foreign buyers vary sharply. Greece requires approval for purchases in designated border regions and some islands. The UAE permits foreign freehold only in designated zones. Our by-country restrictions table sets out where the limits sit.

Residency thresholds move, and they move upward. Greece raised and tiered its Golden Visa thresholds in 2024. Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying route in October 2023. Spain abolished its property-linked Golden Visa in April 2025. Never buy a property you would not otherwise want purely to reach a threshold, the property outlives the programme.

Concentration risk is real. The March 2026 disruption to the Dubai channel is the clearest available illustration. A portfolio hedging Turkish country risk that sits entirely in one foreign market has substituted one concentration for another.

Use independent local counsel. A lawyer with no relationship to the seller or developer, in the destination country, is the highest-value line item in a cross-border purchase.

Frequently asked questions

How much do Turkish citizens spend on property abroad?
TCMB balance-of-payments data recorded a record US$2.675 billion in 2025, up from US$216 million in 2021.

Where do Turkish buyers mostly buy property abroad?
Dubai and Greece are the two leading destinations, with London forming a third distinct corridor. Northern Cyprus, Georgia, Spain and Portugal follow at smaller scale.

How many Turks have a Greek Golden Visa?
Turkish nationals account for 17.6% of all Greek Golden Visa applications. Greece approved 3,291 permits to Turkish investors in 2025, a 160% year-on-year increase, ranking Türkiye second among all nationalities.

Do Turkish citizens pay tax in Türkiye on foreign rental income?
Turkish tax residents are generally taxable on worldwide income, with double-taxation treaty relief for tax paid abroad. Confirm your specific position with a Turkish tax adviser, as treatment depends on your residence status and the applicable treaty.

Is Turkish outbound property investment still growing in 2026?
It grew strongly in January and February 2026, up 44.4% and 18.4% year on year, before declining from March, following regional disruption that particularly affected the Gulf market.

Keep reading on JanusHermes

Compare the origin-market maps for German buyers and British buyers. For the leading Turkish destination programme, see the Greece Golden Visa guide, and model returns properly with net after-tax rental yield by country and the foreign ownership restrictions table.

This article reports published statistical data and market commentary as of July 2026 and is general information, not investment, tax or legal advice. Figures are drawn from central bank and industry sources and may be revised. Confirm current rules and your own tax position with qualified advisers in both Türkiye and the destination country before purchasing.

Primary sources: Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası (TCMB) balance-of-payments statistics on real estate acquisitions abroad by residents; Anadolu Agency reporting on TCMB monthly data; Real Estate Service Exporters' Association (GİGDER) commentary; Greek Golden Visa residence permit statistics as reported by ot.gr and Greek City Times.

A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.