Mortgage-backed home sales share hits 2.5-year high, rises to 22.9%

In March, mortgage-backed (bank-financed) home sales in Turkey rose sharply as a share of total transactions, reaching 22.9%; the number of mortgage sales climbed 35.9% year-on-year to 25,978 while total home transactions amounted to 113,367.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported that primary market sales totaled 35,725 units and secondary market sales 77,642 units in March, highlighting that the recent pickup is concentrated in credit-funded purchases rather than cash or other transaction types. The figures point to a renewed role for mortgage finance in housing market activity.

Market participants attribute the uptick in mortgage-financed purchases to easing mortgage rates and a looser credit stance by lenders, supported by recent monetary policy moves. Declines in bank mortgage rates and improvements in loan availability have encouraged buyers who had been priced out during the high-rate period to return to the market.

Although overall sales slipped slightly year-on-year, the growing share of mortgage transactions could alter short-term dynamics across construction firms, developers and banks: higher mortgage activity typically supports sales volumes and can ease inventory pressures, but it also raises the importance of underwriting standards and loan performance monitoring for lenders.

Analysts say sustaining the momentum in mortgage-backed sales depends on continued declines in housing loan costs and banks’ willingness to expand credit. Policy rate expectations, inflation developments and banks’ risk appetites will be decisive in the coming months for whether mortgage share remains elevated or retreats.