Statistics issued by the Turkish Statistical Institute, show Kuwaitis bought 873 apartments in Turkey from January until August this year, an increase of 86 percent over the corresponding period last year, Al Rai reported.
According to the statistics, the daily put Kuwaitis in the rank first in the Gulf region, with their ranking unchanged globally in seventh place, while Iraq tops the pack with first in the world with 4,631 apartments purchased, followed by Iran with 4,600 apartments, Russia with 2,575, Afghanistan with 1,819, Germany with 1,189 apartments and Kazakhstan 1,129.
What is remarkable is the entry of new nationalities in the real estate market in Turkey such as Kazakhstan, Germany, Azerbaijan and the United States of America, at a time when other Arab countries maintain their strong positions and purchase rates in the middle of the list, such as Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, and the Sudan.
This is because most buyers have in mind the Turkish citizenship (buyers of real estate are entitled to citizenship), unlike Kuwaitis who buy for the purpose of housing and investment.
It is remarkable to see Saudi Arabia, which was almost permanently among the top ten in the ranking of the most nationalities buying real estate in Turkey, is no longer on the current list issued by the Statistics Institute.
Another factor which led to the flurry of this activity is unconfirmed reports that the ceiling to acquire citizenship is set at 250,000 worth purchase of real estate which is expected to change to $350,000.
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