Real Rents Decline in Turkey: Diverging Trends Across Cities

Real rents in Turkey fell in August as nominal rent increases lagged behind inflation, with İzmir showing a decline while Istanbul and Ankara recorded gains.

Nationwide Decline in Real Rents

From July to August, rent increases were below the monthly inflation rate, resulting in a decline in real rents nationwide and in İzmir, but an uptick in Istanbul and Ankara.

Compared with the same month last year, real rents dropped 2% across Turkey and 2.6% in İzmir, while climbing 2.6% in Istanbul and 3.6% in Ankara.

Annual Growth Slowing

The slowdown in annual rent growth continued in August. The nationwide annual growth rate for average advertised rents fell to 30.3%.

• Turkey average: 242.2 TL/m²

• Istanbul: 333.3 TL/m² (+36.4% y/y)

• Ankara: 248 TL/m² (+37.8% y/y)

• İzmir: 283.3 TL/m² (+29.5% y/y)

Demand and Listing Dynamics

The rental demand index was down 0.5% from July and 6.4% compared with August 2024.

Meanwhile, the “average age of closed listings” — an indicator of how long properties stay on the market — lengthened nationwide, as well as in Istanbul and Ankara, but shortened in İzmir.