Dubai – Mubasher: Arabs took the lion’s share in real estate purchases by foreigners in Turkey in the period between January and October, 2015. Real estate sales to Arabs rose 19.5% to 18,428 properties during the period, compared to 15,813 the same period last year.

A statement by Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), released on Tuesday, said that half of the sales went to buyers from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait.

The statement also showed that 5,813 of the properties purchased by foreigners, was in Istanbul, 5,037 others in the city of Antalya and 213 properties in Bursa.   

The number of Turkish properties purchased by foreigners also rose by 23.8% to 2,236 properties in October 2015, versus 1,806 properties in the same month 2014.