Turkish officals relax rules for foreign buyers
Demand from foreign buyers in Turkey has increased over the past five years, prompting the government to loosen restrictions on foreign purchases.
The Turkish government temporarily banned property sales to foreigners from April to July this summer as it debated whether to loosen restrictions on the amount of land foreigners were allowed to buy. The ban was removed when fears arose that the second-home market would start to decline.
However, new legislation for foreign buyers was created. The legislation allows individual foreigners to buy property as long as it does not exceed 10 percent of the area in a town’s local planning zone, giving foreigners more options to buy. Before the new law, individual foreigners could purchase land as long as it was 0.5 percent of the province’s total area.
When more foreigners started buying land in Turkey, the government saw that the demand was beneficial for the country’s economy, but decided that the deals had to be controlled, John Howell, senior partner at the U.K.-based International Law Partnership, told the International Herald Tribune.
About 70,000 foreigners bought property in Turkey over the past five years, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in the region, according to the Herald Tribune.
Sydney’s suburbs struggle
While Sydney’s beaches are packed with tourists and lined with multi-million dollar homes, the Australian city’s suburban housing market is suffering.
Inland, where the majority of the city’s population of 6 million lives, many are struggling with falling home prices and rises in the cost of living.
Sydney’s average monthly mortgage payment has risen more than 40 percent in the past five years, according to a study by the City Futures Research Center at the University of New South Wales.
In Sydney’s western suburbs, like Bankstown and Canterbury, residents are spending more than 40 percent of their income on mortgage payments, the study found, and home prices have fallen 20 to 50 percent since last year.
The chairman of Wizard Home Loans told the International Herald Tribune that nationwide, 1 million Australians are expected to be threatened with foreclosure by the end of the year.
Skyscrapers going up in low-rise Cambodian city
Several new developments in Phnom Penh, Cambodia will give the largely low-rise city a new skyline.
South Korean developer Yon Woo is building a 42-story luxury residential tower called Gold Tower 42. Units start at 1,647 square feet, and prices range from $460,000 to $1.6 million. The $240 million development is scheduled to be completed in 2011, and 60 percent of the units are already sold.
A 52-story mixed-use building called the International Finance Complex broke ground in June. The $1 billion complex will have offices, apartments and a small international school.
Two more projects adding to the skyline are the 33-story De Castle Royal Condominium and the 31-story River Palace 31.
The general manager at Cambodia’s Bonna Realty Group told the International Herald Tribune that he expects property prices in Phnom Penh to rise between 80 and 100 percent this year. Rental prices in the city have increased 20 to 40 percent over the past year.
Compiled by Jovana Rizzo