Emre Camlıbel, chief executive officer of Soyak, speaking on the conference held by the Turkish-American Business Council within Foreign Economic Affairs Association (DEİK) in New York, said, “housing needs arise as a result of the increase in the population, migration from rural areas, desire to renew homes every year. However, only 20 percent of the people who feel this need have the financial resources to buy a new house.”

Camlıbel said the law on mortgages may have an effect on the sector and consumers with the new regulations supporting the law, the decrease in interest rates and the entry of secondary sectors in the market, and added, “the interest rates of housing credits are around 17 percent in Turkey where the inflation rate is around 8 percent. There will be an increasing demand for housing loans when this rate retreats to 12 percent and installment periods are extended. However, we think that this rate will be reached in 2009 at the earliest given the current economic and political situation of Turkey.”

High potential in shopping centers

Camlıbel said Turkey has a dynamic population, and the population with a rising income level creates big potential for the shopping center sector. He further added that Turkey ranked second on the list of popular locations to construct shopping centers, according to a report by ULI – PWC. The shopping center area per 1,000 people in Turkey increased from 10 to 70 square meters from 2004-2007. The international funds investing in Turkey are an indicator of this high interest.   

Source: Milliyet   Translated by: TDN