Istanbul's housing prices surpass Barcelona's

Dr. Buğra Gökce, President of the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) affiliated with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), shared striking data on housing prices in Istanbul via his social media account, offering solutions to the problem.

According to Gökce’s data, the average housing prices in İstanbul's Beykoz, Sarıyer, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy, Şile, and Bakırköy districts are higher than in almost all districts of Barcelona, Spain.

For example, while the average price of an apartment in Bakırköy is 312 thousand U.S. dollars, average housing prices in Barcelona’s touristic Valles Oriental district are similar. In Beşiktaş, the average housing price is 454 thousand U.S. dollars, while in Barcelona’s Moianes district, housing prices are around 30 thousand U.S. dollars.

RENT PRICES ARE ALSO UP

Highlighting that rental prices in many districts of Istanbul are higher than in Barcelona, Gökce noted, “For example, the average rent in Eyüpsultan is 773 U.S. dollars, while it’s possible to rent a place for this price in Barcelona’s Anoia, Bages, and Moianes districts.”

The average rent in Istanbul has risen to 682 U.S. dollars. Gökce emphasized that from 2018 to 2024, the price of an average house sold has increased by 888 percent while rental prices increased by 1025 percent.

STRUGGLE TO FIND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Gökce attributed the rise in housing and rental prices in Istanbul to the policies implemented by the AKP governmet, stating, “While the housing market in Turkey has lost its balance, our citizens are struggling to find affordable, safe housing.”

Gökce proposed the following solutions:

“Production of social housing should commence, offering various options such as subsidized social housing, social rental housing, property social housing, and public housing. Different taxes and obligations should be introduced for small, medium, and large producers of social housing to ensure especially small and medium enterprises can safely participate in the housing market. Enterprises that produce social housing and construction materials should be supported to increase the competitiveness of the local construction industry. The practice of selling houses to foreigners in exchange for citizenship should be suspended until the housing market stabilizes, as seen in many cities worldwide.”