Running second after Iraqis in foreign residential sales in Turkey, Iranians have taken the lead in citizenship. The minimum amount required for citizenship dropping to $250,000 has raised foreigners' interest in Turkey's real estate sector.
The share of Iranians in foreign residential sales, which made a fast start this year with 9,618 units in the first three months, is rising every month. With this remarkable increase in residential sales, Iranians have become homeowners in different parts of the country.
In the first quarter of the year, the Iraqis led the way in foreign residential sales with 1,781 units, followed by the Iranians with 946 housing units.
Recalling that the U.S., Canada, and EU countries used to rank first among the Iranians' preferences for citizenship, he said the emergence of the Syrian issue, the desire of millions of people to immigrate to Europe and the anti-immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump have led Iranians to turn to Turkey. He further stressed that Iran's inward-oriented policies after the embargoes, bans on exports and imports, and the problems with the surrounding countries caused about 75,000 Iranian companies in the Gulf countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Oman, to shut down and to turn their direction toward Turkey.
The war rumors and the military mobility have also triggered the sudden rise in the foreign exchange market and started to cause uneasiness about the political future. He also stressed that the deepening and expansion of the embargo, the continuous depreciation of the Iranian currency, and the war rumors were among the factors that led to an increase in demand from Iranian people, who were overwhelmed by uncertainty, for housing purchases from Turkey.