The Hottest Places To Buy Residential And Investment Property In Istanbul (2024)

Beşiktaş is agreen, safe and modern district on theshore of theBosphorus: it is thecommercial and cultural centre of thecity and home to famous palaces and luxurious hotels.

Thetransportation system is excellent inthe district: buses and dolmuş taxis run to almost every district of Istanbul. Thedistrict also has asea port. Theonly disadvantage related to thesystem of transportation inBeşiktaş is theabsence of ametro system.

Themajority of themost upscale Istanbul neighbourhoods are located inBeşiktaş. They include Bebek, Levent and Etiler. Ortaköy and Ulus are also considered favourable for life and property investment.

Levent is afamous business district with alot of office buildings, including thehighest Turkey´s IstanbulSapphire skyscraper (54 floors above ground level and several underground floors) and BankasıTower1 (52 floors). Foreign companies have been "conquering" Levent inrecent years. There is ashortage of office space, therefore, theold-fashionedvillas are often converted into offices. TheEtiler neighbourhood has shopping centres, sports clubs and modern apartment buildings. Often, those who work inLevent reside there.

There are many antique villas facing theBosphorus inBeşiktaş. This is one of themost denselybuilt-updistricts of Istanbul and thevery place where themost expensive property is located: theprices for spacious apartments exceed €5,000 persqm. Arental flat of 120sqm yields about 4.4% per annum.

Another upscale district of Istanbul, Beyoğlu is located near Beşiktaş. TheGalata Bridge connects it to theold European side of thecity. TheTünel metro line runs from thebridge to theGalata Tower.

Themost famous landmark inBeyoğlu is thePera Palace Hotel, constructed in1892 for thepassengers of theOrient Express. In one of its rooms, Agatha Christie wrote her novel "Murder on theOrient Express". Over theyears, such celebrities as Greta Garbo, Mata Hari, Sarah Bernhardt and Kemal Atatürk stayed at thehotel.

Beyoğlu is designed and built-up in the European style. The art nouveau and eclectic buildings, constructed in the early twentieth century, form shopping streets and boulevards with supermarkets and expensive boutiques there. A tram line runs through these neighborhoods. In the central street of Beyoğlu — İstiklal Caddesi — there are shops, restaurants, cafés and bazaars. There are art museums, as well as the consulates of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and Sweden in the district. Many immigrants from Asian and European countries settle down in Beyoğlu. Generally, these immigrants are artistic intellectuals and young professionals.

The top neighbourhoods of Beyoğlu are Gümüşsuyu and Cihangir, a bohemian neighborhood with narrow streets, cafés and bars, where primarily artists, writers and actors choose to live.

Beyoğlu is one of themost expensive places to buyproperty inIstanbul. Aflat of 75sqm costs about €170,000. Therental rate runs at about €840 per month, meaning that theowner will get anyield of about 6% per annum.

"Flats of all types rent out well there. You can rent two andthree-bedroomflats out to families, andone-bedroomflats to singles. Thecloser theresidential property is to thecentre of Istanbul, thequicker you find thetenants. If theresidential complex has extra amenities, for example, agym, aswimming pool, etc., theyield rate will be higher, but thetenants will need to payaidat, which is amonthly fee for theswimming pool, garden, cleaning and security", Alyona Malcheva says.

Sarıyer is apicturesque district near theBosphorus Strait on theEuropean side of Istanbul. It borders Beşiktaş inthe south and thedistricts of Kâğıthane and Eyüp inthe southwest and west respectively.

There are numerous cafés and restaurants inSarıyer. Thelocal beaches are apopular holiday destination. However, only sunbathing— as opposed to swimming— is advisable, as thewater there and inother areas of Istanbul is extremely polluted.

In 2008, Bahçeköy became part of Sarıyer; in2012, thelatter absorbed thecommercial district of Şişli and thebusiness district of Maslak. One of themost upscale Sarıyer quarters is Nişantaşı. It is known for having been thefamous Turkish writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk's place of residence. TheZekeriyaköy neighbourhood is also considered safe and livable.

Sarıyer is traditionally popular with thehigh-incomeindividuals from Turkey and abroad. Affluent politicians, businessmen, actors and musicians live there. In Sarıyer, there are many prime villas used as summer residences. Thelocal property is expensive. For example, aflat of 75sqm costs €117,000 on average. Letting such aproperty brings about €700 per month. Theaverage yield rate is 7.15% per annum. Theprice persqm inSarıyer sometimes exceeds €3,000.

Fatih is located near Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal and Beyoğlu. Themajority of Istanbul´s main historical and cultural landmarks, including theHagia Sophia Museum, Topkapi Palace, Süleymaniye and Sultanahmet (the Blue) Mosques, theChurch of theHoly Saviour inChora (the Chora Museum) and theIstanbul Archaeology Museums are all located inthe district.

Fatih includes theneighbourhoods of Laleli, Sultanahmet and Eminönü. Laleli is themost "Russian" neighbourhood of Istanbul, as it focuses on tourism from theCIS countries. It is also quite animportant commercial centre of thecity. In Laleli, there are many Russian traders who come to buy goods, and theshops are speckled with Russian lettering. Thecrime rates inthe neighbourhood are higher than inthebetter-situatedBebek and Nişantaşı. Theadjacent Sultanahmet neighbourhood is ahistorical centre, with plenteous landmarks of thepast. You can see exemplary pieces of theancient Turkish architecture, thetraditional timber houses, inthat area.

"Theprices inFatih start from €135,000, [and] therental flats yield about 5% per annum", says MariaZharaya, Tranio director for Turkey.

Kadıköy is themost ancient district of Istanbul on theAsian side of thecity: theearliest evidence of human settlement there dates back to 680 BCE. This is alarge commercial district with alot of cafés, restaurants, shops, bazaars, parks and playgrounds, but it is also cosy and safe.

Kadıköy is situated near Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. TheHaydarpaşa Terminus that connects Istanbul to Anatolia, theAsian part of Turkey, is located inthe district. Aferry goes to theEuropean side of thecity every 30 minutes.

Kadıköy includes Caddebostan, the business Kozyatağı area, the quiet Moda neighborhood

and Fenerbahçe, home to the local football club stadium.

In Kadıköy, there are mostly residential complexes formiddle-classbuyers. Theresidential properties facing theBosphorus are expensive, although theinvestment amount to buy commercial residential property is €147,000, slightly lower than inBeyoğlu. Buying aflat of 75sqm will bring theowner about 4.5% inannual yield.

Kartal is situated on the Asian side of Istanbul, between the districts of Maltepe and Pendik. Despite being far from the centre, the location of Kartal is convenient: Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is just 15 minutes away, and there is a train connection to the other districts. For this reason, Kartal is densely populated, even in spite of the relative remoteness.

Kartal is arapidly growingeconomy-classresidential district, theequivalent of Beylikdüzü on theEuropean side of thecity. Theresidential property prices start from €70,000 there", MariaZharaya says.

There are alot of luxurious villas and prime apartment complexes— largely oriented towards affluent buyers— on thecoast already, but theIstanbul authorities have plans for thefurther development. Kartal is expected to become anew cultural and industrial centre of Anatolia by 2020. Thenumerous projects for theconstruction of residential buildings, concert halls, cinemas, museums, office blocks, parks, restaurants and adock, as well as theKartall Mesa complex with 304 apartments and thePega Kartal complex with 200 apartments, have been initiated recently. Apartments cost from €100,000 to 400,000 there.

Bakırköy is one of themost ancient residential districts inIstanbul.Middle-classrepresentatives reside there. Thedistrict is located at adistance from Beyoğlu and other popular places of Istanbul, but has agood transport connection to them. For instance, Taksim is 40 minutes away by bus, or 25 minutes away by taxi, Kadıköy and Sultanahmet are 25 minutes away by train, and Atatürk Airport is onlya 15-minutedrive away.

Bakırköy is one of themain commercial and residential districts on theEuropean side of Istanbul. There are countless inexpensive clothing shops, cafés and restaurants, some of them facing theMarmara Sea. Theresidents of thesurrounding districts come to shop there, which is why Bakırköy is always bustling, especially on theweekends. Thelargest shopping mall is Capacity.

In previous centuries, this part of thecity was primarily inhabited by Greeks and Armenians, who built spacious houses. In thetwentieth century, Bakırköy was reconstructed significantly, and not much was left of its historic part.

Theforeign population of Bakırköy is small, but thedistrict offers good employment opportunities to immigrants and has 50 Turkish language schools. Thetop Bakırköy neighbourhoods are Ataköy and Florya.

"Bakırköy is one of themost upscale Istanbul districts. Florya is where thelocal elite, celebrities and theupper class of Istanbul reside. Theprices range from €2,700 to €13,500 persqm", asserts MariaZharaya.

Beylikdüzü is adistrict popular among themiddle class. Most locals are industrial or service workers. There is aregular transport connection to thecentre, for example, Atatürk Airport is onlya 10-minutedrive away.

Thedistrict haswell-developedinfrastructure: restaurants, shops, playgrounds, schools, parks, hospitals, sports facilities and three universities. Among theresidential properties, newly built apartment blocks predominate. Thenew projects inBeylikdüzü include theTac Mahal apartment complex that has aswimming pool, aparking area, anursery, afitness centre, restaurants, cafés, cinemas, sports facilities and playgrounds.

Nearly all theterritory of Istanbul is seismically active, and Beylikdüzü is considered to be one of themostearthquake-pronedistricts, along with Avcılar and Maltepe, which were significantly affected by the1999 İzmit earthquake. However, theinvestors do not need to worry about that: modern buildings are constructed using new technologies which enable them to resist strong quakes. Theauthorities of Istanbul assign apart of thebudget specifically to thereconstruction of rundown buildings.

"It’s better to buya newly-builtone. This guarantees greater safety. TheTurkish nationals themselves increasingly sell their homes and move to thenewly-builtresidential complexes. Themodernisation of buildings inIstanbul is infull swing: theold structures are demolished, and thenew ones are constructed instead", states Alyona Malcheva.

The residential property prices in Beylikdüzü range between €600 and €900 per sqm.

Ataşehir is abusiness district near Kadıköy, located on theAsian side of Istanbul. It is designed for car owners, and, as aresult, theuse of public transport is not very common there. Thedevelopers of Ataşehir made provisions for alarge parking zone, and there is aplethora of convenient surface and underground parking areas inthe district.

Many companies have their offices inAtaşehir: new business buildings are being constructed, and there are many opportunities for recreation and sports. Thedistrict also has five schools and two shopping centres. Ataşehir is considered to bewell-situated, and families with children often choose to live there.

Another feature of Ataşehir is thedevelopment ofmulti-storeyhousing. There are no detached houses, and theauthorities do not plan to construct any. Instead, 18,000 residential units for 80,000middle-classresidents will be built inthe near future. According to MariaZharaya, theresidential property prices inAtaşehir start from €160,000.

TheKüçükçekmeсe district is located near Bakırköy. Themain advantage of this part of Istanbul is theopportunities for growth and theabundance of space for development. There are many newly builthigh-risesinKüçükçekmeсe, but not enough parks and shops yet: thelocal infrastructure is yet to be developed. People with every level of income live inthis district.

Mass housing construction began inthe 1980s inthis area, and for this reason Küçükçekmece has almost no ancient buildings. Apartment complexes are being actively built inthe district now. One of thenew projects is Tema İstanbul, with over three thousand residential units, three hotels, ashopping mall, anexhibition centre, aparking area, and atheme park with amusem*nt rides, cinemas and museums. Theprices for flats inthe complex range from €120,000 to €370,000.