This paper examines the investment potential for Turkish Residential Real Estate Market, focusing mainly on Istanbul. With a stable economy since 2002, dynamic population, geo-political location and the potential accession to EU, Turkey provides exciting opportunities to local and international investors. Turkish economy, worldwide, ranks at twentieth in terms of GDP level and in 2005, ULI/ PriceWaterhouseCoopers has ranked Istanbul as the top development market. The question the paper is trying to answer is: Does Turkey's Residential Real Estate Market provide an attractive investment opportunity? To determine this I have reviewed the following factors: economic forecasts, political stability, newly enacted mortgage market, FDI forecasts, potential for foreign real estate ownership, current status & future predictions of real estate sector, potential of EU accession and comparison to Spanish & Romanian real estate markets. The method I used to accomplish this was mainly literature review and interviews with real estate brokers/developers. Turkey's economic stability, developing mortgage market, continuing FDI, foreigners' investment in vacation houses, improving legal transparency and potential accession to European Union makes Turkey, especially Istanbul, an increasingly attractive market. On the other hand, political stability is crucial for economic stability. In addition, slow legal system, unregistered construction activity, insufficient quality of some buildings and limited infrastructure in certain parts of the country remain to be problematic issues. Considering Turkey's opportunities and risks, it is a top investment destination in Europe, dependent on sustainable political stability, an improved mortgage & legal system and successful implementation of EU accession plan.
