To answer the title question… It isn’t, it just stands out more. Since the Erdogan/AK Party government was elected in 2002 Turkey has been in a near-constant period of socio-economic reform; strengthening the banking system, enacting more fiscally responsible policies, paying down debts etc. All of this was coming to fruition during the boom, but at the time there were too many other bright prospects all around it, and many of them benefiting from their much easier path to EU accession and all the economic benefits and property market boosts that went with it.
Now, the EU is a shadow of its former self and Turkey is the fastest growing economy in the world. Now, there are only a handful of destinations in Europe worth investing in and Turkey is definitely one of them.
In 2008 Turkish tourism hit 26 million, up from 23 million in 2007, 18 million in 2006 and 12 million in 2002. In the seven years 2002-2008 Turkish GDP growth averaged 6.17% per year. In the same period the Turkish government had been actively reducing public debt and bringing down inflation. By 2008 the AK Party was well into its second term having brought a higher majority in its second victory, so it was politically stable as well.
Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee
- Billions of dollars in funding available
- Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
- This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
All in all there was no reason why you wouldn’t see Turkish property as a worthy investment, especially given that you could double your buying Sterling into liras, although most prices are in Sterling or Euros anyway, but never the less. One thing stopped it from hitting the high note, its difficult path to EU accession. This article, written at the time (by me) sums it up; I said that Turkey had plenty of strengths, but I would wait for EU accession before I would invest.
As I said, now that EU accession could easily be argued as more of a hindrance than a help to countries like Turkey, there is no obstacle to stop Turkey from becoming one of the top property investment destinations in the world — and that is exactly what it is doing.
