Buy a home in Istanbul for real Turkish delight

Istanbul has glamour and views straight out of a Bond film, but there’s a home for every budget.

Picture perfect: even in the city, the scenery of Istanbul’s seven hills is simply breathtaking; even more so when you can see it for £30,000  Photo: Funkyfood London – Paul Williams

By Clive Aslet7:00AM BST 02 Apr 20133 Comments

James Bond leaps over the pantiled roofs of the old city in Istanbul in the opening scenes of Skyfall, against the dazzling backdrop of the Bosporus and Golden Horn. He has been here before, most memorably in From Russia With Love, released in 1963. But he might well be astounded by the changes that have overtaken the ancient capital of Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire in the past 50 years. In that time Istanbul has mushroomed from a city of one million inhabitants to a sprawling colossus of 13.5 million. Nobody could call the urbanism that greets the visitor a miracle of well-ordered planning, but not all comparisons are to the bad: trees have grown up over the hills that, when Sean Connery was Bond, looked bald. As for glamorous living space, an international, pleasure-seeking man of mystery would now feel completely at home.

The top foreign nation buying property here is Russia, but in second place comes Britain. This year, Erdogˇan Bayraktar, Minister for Environment and Urban Planning, expects that the total number of real estate sales will double. While most foreigners look on the coast, a report by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and the Urban Land Institute last year identified Istanbul as having the most attractive property investment market in Europe. In contrast to the stagnant economies of the Eurozone and Britain, Turkey is romping ahead. Recently, the country reformed its property laws, making it possible for foreigners to buy double the amount of land in Turkey than was previously allowed.

“Istanbul is a big place,” says Julian Walker of Spot Blue, an agent specialising in Turkey. “We offer anything from luxury houses at $15 million to studio flats for $60,000.” In the past 20 years, apartment buildings have mushroomed west, towards Ataturk International Airport and beyond, the more distant properties being “a bit cheap and cheerful”. But the city is safer than others of its size, and in contrast to Britain, the Eurozone and America, it is practically fizzing with energy.

The British author and photographer Emma Levine, who has travelled the world, first came to Istanbul in 1989 and “fell in love with it straight away”. In 2001, a friend told her that he was buying a flat there, and she “assumed he’d won the lottery”. The price, however, was just £7,000. Admittedly, the Tarlabasi neighbourhood is “rough around the edges”, and the flat needed work, but Emma decided that she would follow his example. She paid £13,000 for a “fantastic” two-bedroom flat at the top of a six-storey building in Tepebasi. “The location is superb – opposite the Pera Palace Hotel, on a vibrant residential street with restaurants and small hotels. It’s just a mile from Taksim Square.” A big draw was a “huge” roof terrace and balcony. The value of property in the area has gone up by 10 times.

The rocketing property market reflects Turkey’s economic success. Competition between entrepreneurs has driven prices for the best homes to dizzying heights. The latest apartments are built to superb specifications and, for the first time, are stamped with the kudos of international brand names. Your car can be parked, your flat cleaned, your shopping done, your dinners cooked, your parties served, your decor provided, all by the hotel group Kempinski (which owns the most glamorous hotel in the city) and the international design company Armani/Casa.

via Buy a home in Istanbul for real Turkish delight – Telegraph.