Turkish buyers more active in Miami condo market

Wealthy condo buyers from Turkey have emerged as a hot market for residential real estate in Miami.

The Wall Street Journal reported that developers of luxury condos in Miami are selling about 5 percent of their pre-construction units to Turkish buyers.

This year, for example, Turkish buyers paid $4 million for three units at Ritz-Carlton Residences Sunny Isles Beach, which is under construction in the northeast Miami-Dade County community, according to Edgardo Defortuna, whose company Fortune International Group is co-developing the Ritz condo project with Chateau Group.

In October of last year, Turkish Airlines began operating a daily flight from Istanbul to Miami. Estimates by real estate agents put the number of Turks who reside part-time in Miami at 10,000. A newly built Turkish consulate opened in Miami earlier this year to handle an influx of Turkish citizens.

Hilal Borque, who last December opened a Miami franchise of Turyap Realty, based in Instanbul, told the Wall Street Journal that Miami condos can be good investments for Turkish buyers: “There’s a good return on investment, and the returns are in dollars.”

Reid Boren of Two Roads Development told the Journal wealthy Turks historically bought second homes in London or southern France, but many of them now regard second homes the United States as a more stable investment. Boren recently sold a two-story penthouse at Biscayne Beach, his 399-unit condo development, to a Turkish buyer for $8.6 million.

Turkish interest in U.S. homes has increased since the recent attempted coup to overthrow the government of Turkey. Other factors include terrorist attacks throughout Europe and the deflated value of the lira, Turkey’s currency. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth