ANKARA 

Residential property sales in Turkiye increased 38.8% on an annual basis in April, according to latest data released on Tuesday.

A total of 133,058 houses changed hands last month, up from 95,863 in April 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported.

Mortgaged house sales stood at 32,030 last month, up 82.9% year-on-year, accounting for 24.1% share of all house sales.

Sales to foreign buyers jumped 58.1% to 6,447.

Istanbul, Turkiye's largest city in terms of population, had the highest share with 19.8%, or 26,330 house sales.

It was followed by Ankara with 12,195 sales and Izmir at 8,459, giving them shares of 9.2% and 6.4%, respectively.

Russians led the list of foreign buyers by purchasing 1,152 houses in April, followed by Iranians at 905 and Iraqis with 714.

From January to April, house sales to foreign nationals reached 20,791, an increase of 48.9% compared to the same period of last year, according to TurkStat.