Foreigners can buy property in Türkiye. Acquisition by a foreign natural person is governed by Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644, which has not required reciprocity since Law No. 6302 took effect for that article on 18 May 2012: a citizen of any country permitted by Presidential decision may acquire immovable property and limited real rights. Two statutory ceilings apply, and both are in force as at July 2026 — a single foreign national may hold at most 30 hectares (300,000 m²) across the country, and the area acquired by foreign nationals together may not exceed 10% of the area of any one district that is open to private ownership. Property inside second-degree land military forbidden zones cannot be acquired at all. A real-estate valuation report, by contrast, is no longer a general condition of transfer for foreign buyers: the two circulars that imposed it were repealed on 13 June 2024, and a report is now sought only where another instrument still calls for one.
Türkiye’s property market draws international buyers from the Gulf, Europe, Central Asia and beyond. The legal framework is open to them, but it is also precise: who may buy, where, and on what terms are all set by statute, and a transaction that ignores the rules can be delayed, taxed twice, or unwound. This guide walks a foreign buyer through the whole purchase — eligibility, the closing process, due diligence, taxes, and the pitfalls that most often catch newcomers.
Who Can Buy: Article 35 and Its Limits
Foreign natural persons acquiring property in Türkiye are governed by Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644. For decades this provision imposed a reciprocity (mütekabiliyet) requirement, but Law No. 6302 abolished reciprocity for foreign real persons, entering into force as regards Article 35 on 18 May 2012. Today, citizens of the countries permitted by Presidential decision may acquire immovable property and limited real rights. That list is determined by Presidential decision and is not officially published, so eligibility is confirmed nationality by nationality rather than from any of the country counts that circulate online.
Two ceilings then apply, and both are in force as at July 2026. A single foreign national may own at most 30 hectares (300,000 m²) of real estate across the whole of Türkiye; Article 35/2 empowers the President to double that figure, but that remains a power only and the working limit is 30 hectares. Separately, the total area acquired by foreign nationals in any single district (ilçe) cannot exceed 10% of that district’s area open to private ownership; this is a ceiling for all foreign individuals together, not a per-person limit — the benchmark is the privately ownable area, not the district’s total surface. Finally, foreign natural and legal persons cannot acquire immovable property in second-degree land military forbidden zones under Article 9(b) of Law No. 2565, which also bars entering, residing, working or even renting there without permission. Since 2012 the land registry has run each property against maps and coordinates supplied by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Interior (Article 35/6) before it will complete a transfer.
These rules are for individuals. Acquisition by companies with foreign capital established in Türkiye follows a separate regime under Article 36: where a Turkish company has 50% or more foreign shareholding, or foreign control over the appointment or removal of the majority of its managers, an acquisition in military forbidden zones, military security zones or zones determined under Article 28 of Law No. 2565 requires the permission of the General Staff or the authority it designates — a different route many investors take for larger or commercial projects.
The Step-by-Step Purchase
Once you have chosen a property, the transaction runs through the Land Registry Directorate (Tapu Müdürlüğü) where the property sits. Türkiye operates a registration-based title system (tapu sicili), so ownership passes on registration in the state register, not on a private sale contract.
A typical purchase involves obtaining a Turkish tax identification number (vergi numarası); commissioning an SPK valuation report where one is required; taking out compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK); preparing your passport with a sworn translation and biometric photos; and, for a remote buyer, a notarised and (if signed abroad) apostilled power of attorney (vekaletname). A buyer who cannot travel can complete the entire purchase through a power of attorney granted to a Turkish lawyer, who attends the registry, signs, and takes delivery of the deed on the buyer’s behalf.
The real-estate valuation report (taşınmaz değerleme raporu) was never imposed by statute. It came from two circulars of the Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate — 2019/1 of 15 February 2019 and 2019/5 of 30 May 2019 — which called for a report where a foreign natural person was the buyer. Circular 2024/4 of 13 June 2024 repealed both, in terms that leave no room for reading the requirement forward: “the Circulars referred to at (d) and (e) and the Instructions referred to at (b) and (c) have been repealed.” The same circular then directed that no valuation report be sought, with one carve-out: the declaration recorded under Article 20(2) of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, by which an owner undertakes not to transfer the property within the period the regulation sets, where the property is being counted towards citizenship by investment.
In that carve-out a report drawn under the procedure of Circular 2024/2 of 1 March 2024 is still required — other than for sales by public bodies and municipalities and by their economic enterprises, institutions, participations and subsidiaries, sales under revenue-sharing contracts, and sales or undertakings to sell by real-estate investment companies. Where a report is produced it is valid for three months, and the registry checks whether three months have passed between the date of the report and the date of the sale application. Because the subject sits in administrative practice rather than in the statute, confirm the position in force on your own transaction date with the land registry directorate.
Due Diligence Before You Commit
The register is reliable, but it only helps if you read it before you sign. Our real estate lawyers begin every purchase with a current title record (tapu kaydı), checking for mortgages (ipotek), attachments (haciz), annotations (şerh), easements, a family-residence annotation and pre-emption (şufa) rights.
Confirm the ownership type. Full independent-unit ownership — condominium title (kat mülkiyeti) — is preferable to construction servitude (kat irtifakı), which signals that the building is not yet legally complete. Check the zoning status (imar durumu) at the municipality and confirm that both a construction permit (yapı ruhsatı) and an occupancy permit (iskân / yapı kullanma izni) exist. For land, establish whether it is zoned for construction or remains agricultural. A foreign natural person or foreign commercial company that buys an unbuilt (yapısız) immovable must submit the project it will develop to the relevant Ministry for approval within two years (Article 35/5), the approved project being annotated on the register with its start and completion dates; failure to do so — like any acquisition made contrary to Article 35 — exposes the property to liquidation within a period set by the Ministry of Finance of up to one year, with the proceeds paid to the rightholder (Article 35/7). Both rules are in force as at July 2026. Finally, verify the seller’s identity and authority, and check for unpaid property tax, utility debts and building-management (aidat) arrears.
A missing iskân is a serious red flag. A building with no occupancy permit may be unregistrable as a condominium, hard to insure or finance, and exposed to municipal penalties — never treat one as a discount opportunity without advice.
One check belongs ahead of the others: whether the building holds its occupancy permit, because several routine transactions are blocked without one.
Taxes and Costs
Budgeting for the extras matters as much as the price itself. The headline item is the tapu harcı, a title deed charge calculated on the value declared in the deed. Its rate is set by legislation and has been revised from time to time, and contracts commonly re-allocate between buyer and seller who actually bears it — so confirm both the rate in force on your completion date and what your contract says.
| Item | What it is | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Tapu harcı | Title deed charge calculated on the value declared in the deed | Rate set by legislation and revised from time to time — confirm the rate in force at completion |
| VAT (KDV) | Possible one-time exemption on first-hand new builds bought in foreign currency | Conditions are specific — confirm eligibility for the individual purchase |
| Emlak vergisi | Annual municipal property tax | Depends on property type and municipality — confirm with the belediye |
| DASK | Compulsory earthquake insurance | Required to complete the transfer and connect utilities |
| Other | Notary, translation, valuation, agency | Variable |
A relief exists for new stock: a one-time VAT exemption may be available to foreign buyers who purchase a new property first-hand from its developer and pay in foreign currency brought into Türkiye, subject to a statutory minimum holding period before resale. Ordinary second-hand sales between individuals are generally outside VAT. The conditions are specific, so before closing have the tax treatment and your eligibility confirmed for your specific purchase, and if you intend to let the property, factor in the rules covered in our guide to Türkiye’s rent regulations. Pricing in a foreign currency is separately regulated, and whether a contract may lawfully be denominated in one turns on the residence status of the parties under Decree No. 32 — a test examined in is a foreign-owned Turkish company a resident under Decree No. 32?.
When you bring funds in, convert them through a Turkish bank, which issues a foreign-currency purchase document (Döviz Alım Belgesi / DAB) evidencing the inflow — useful for the VAT exemption and for any later resale or citizenship file.
The costs do not stop at closing. An apartment in a building under the Condominium Act carries a recurring share of the building’s running expenses, fixed by the owners’ general assembly in an operating budget and allocated between owners under Article 20 — and a 2026 amendment introduced a ceiling that applies more narrowly than it is usually described: see Turkish building maintenance charges and the 2026 cap. Those recurring duties are the part a buyer abroad most often underestimates, and they are set out together on our property compliance for non-resident owners page.
Off-Plan and Preliminary Deals
For staged or off-plan purchases, a notarised promise-to-sell agreement (gayrimenkul satış vaadi sözleşmesi), drawn up in “düzenleme” form before a notary, can be annotated on the title (tapuya şerh) to secure your position pending completion. For units under construction, additionally verify the developer’s own title, the building permit, that a kat irtifakı has been established, the payment schedule or escrow arrangement, and the delivery guarantees. Delay and non-delivery are the principal off-plan risks.
Common Pitfalls
A handful of mistakes recur among foreign buyers:
- Under-declaring the value. Declaring less than the true price to trim the tapu harcı is unlawful. Where a valuation report is produced, it also becomes impractical, because the declared value is then tied to an independent valuer’s figure.
- No iskân. Buying a home without an occupancy permit is a structural defect foreign purchasers frequently overlook.
- Cash payments. Pay through the banking system so the price, the date and the currency inflow are all documented; cash leaves you exposed on tax, on proof of payment, and on the VAT and citizenship conditions that depend on a bank record.
Do not send money before the title, the valuation and the permits check out. The register moves fast on the day of signing, and problems that would have taken an afternoon to spot beforehand can take years to unwind afterwards.
Two further points deserve a mention. Property can support a citizenship-by-investment application where the buyer acquires real estate of at least USD 400,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency, with a three-year no-sale commitment annotated on the title. That threshold has applied since 13 June 2022 under the Regulation implementing the Turkish Citizenship Law and is still current as at July 2026; since 12 December 2023 the property must additionally be one over which kat mülkiyeti or kat irtifakı has been established, or land with a building on it, so bare land no longer qualifies. The foreign currency must be sold to a bank operating in Türkiye before the transaction and by that bank to the Central Bank, and the citizenship file itself is handled as a separate immigration matter. And succession to Turkish real estate is governed by Turkish law: Turkish forced-heirship rules apply to property located in Türkiye regardless of the owner’s nationality, so estate planning is best considered before, not after, the purchase.
Buying property in Türkiye is straightforward when the sequence is right and every document checks out — and costly when it is not. Before you sign or send funds, have the title, the valuation and the tax position reviewed by a Turkish lawyer. Checking them beforehand is considerably easier than addressing them once the transfer has gone through.
A related problem appears after completion, when the flat turns out to be occupied by someone with no title to be there; the two actions that answer it are set out in prevention of interference and ecrimisil.
