Plans to build a modern port for cruise ships in Izmir

Izmir port which is Turkey's second busiest port after Istanbul, will receive a hefty amount of investment to make it one of the top five port cities in Europe. Turkey's biggest city on the Aegean coast is about to have a port for cruise ships that lives to its reputation.

Izmir is Turkey's third largest port and has the best natural harbor. Plenty of ships can load and unload simultaneously, but Izmir is primarily a discharge port for tankers. Binali Yildirim, Turkey's Minister of Transportation and Communication said Izmir port will receive investment worth TRY 450 million whioch makes it a candidate for inclusion among the top five European naval ports. He said that the port will be divided into two sections: one for container and one for cruise shipping. new docking facilities for cruise ships are planned in order to increase the number of passengers.

Once the upgrades in the port have been completed, the number of cruise passengers visiting Izmir, which is around 400,000 a year, may increase threefold. The build-operate-transfer method will be used for the financing of the project , said Mr. Yildrim.

The Izmir Chamber of Commerce, or İZTO, and Costa, an Italian cruise firm, have joined forces to built one of the most modern ports in and the two parties have signed a booking note for the $75 million investment. Ekrem Demirtaş, president of the İZTO ruling board, said eight cruisers would be able to anchor at the port side by side at the same time. He said tourism had great importance in their vision of Izmir and added that when they started to work on cruise-based tourism in 2004, Izmir was a zero in the area.

Demirtaş pointed out that through this project the number of cruise passengers visiting the city reached 320,000 and this year 360,000 tourists were expected from 136 ships which is good news for rental property investors.Demirtaş said they will push 400,000 tourists with constantly added ships and added that the new target is having 1 million cruise passengers visiting every year to compete with cities like Barcelona which is visited by 2.1 million.

ISTANBUL REstate Fair offers investment opportunities

As one of the most important events in the world of real estate, The Turkish Real Estate Summit and Istanbul REstate 2010 Fair held from 15-17 June that bring together many participants from Europe, the Mediterranean, the CIS and the Middle East have opened their doors to visitors at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress and Exhibition Hall in Istanbul.

Istanbul REstate covers the complete spectrum of the real estate economy and business. Nearly 150 speakers will participate and more than 100 domestic and foreign projects will be promoted in the summit. The fair is organized by the Turkish Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER). The Regional Conference on South Eastern Europe and Turkey will also take place at the fair. Turgay Tanes, Chairman of GYODER, states that even with its first edition, “ISTANBUL REstate plays a very important role in the real estate sector, promising a future and offering investment opportunities.”

In 2009 event, exactly 52 exhibitors from 11 countries presented their projects and services in Rumeli Hall from the June 2-4, 2009. A total of 2,700 participants from 23 countries were registered during the three days of the event. Matthias Limbeck (DI), New Business CEO for fair organizer Reed Exhibitions in Austria said that the fair was “quite satisfactory” when considering the global financial and economic crisis and the severely affected real estate industry.

Iþyk Gokkaya, Chairman of Y&Y, said that this fair has become a substantial contact point for the real estate industry in terms of providing many opportunities and know-how exchange in addition to meeting with high profile visitors. “It seems that ISTANBUL REstate will achieve to become the meeting point of regional real estate industry, ” he added.

Investment in Turkish property is better than gold

Turkish property market has become "one of the main countries for foreign property investment" from UK nationals as Investment in Turkish property provides better value than gold.

According to The Hurriyet Daily News, the property firm Sinpas claims not one of its projects in the past ten years has lost value in the market. The comments were made as the company outlines its campaign for property in the country in 2010. Sinpas is a firm which has been dealing in both residential and commercial property in the country for over 30 years.

Ahmet Celik, managing director of Sinpas said that gold, Turkish Lira deposits, the euro and the US dollar have lost value many times in the past decade. However, Turkish real-estate projects have always given the best value for investors. He said Even gold cannot compete with it. Foreign Property Buyer described the Mediterranean country as a "land of promise" for those who are interested in investing in a residence outside of the UK.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from Standard and Poor's credit analysis reacted positively to Turkey's future thanks to the relative stability it experienced during the economic crisis. Daniel Dias, of developer Signature International said that turkey was well placed to learn from the mistakes in the Spanish market.

"Spain's story is a terribly sad case of a property industry that was allowed to boom out of control and ideal replacement for Spain property market," he explained.

Increasing population helping Turkish property prices

The steady growth of the Turkish population means property prices are likely to carry on rising, according to a recent research.

Overseas Property Professional (OPP) cited research conducted by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) and has predicted that as the population continues to grow, the housing stock in the country is likely to "explode". The institute claimed that the property market in Istanbul would be the main beneficiary of the increase in residents, but as population distribution spreads there could also be a rise in the number of people looking at Antalya properties as well.

Steven Worboys, managing director of UK-based agent Experience International said that the continued population expansion is putting pressure on existing housing stock, with the country needs 5.5 million additional homes in Turkey by 2015.

Meanwhile, Ian Jones, director of investment for Cordea Savills had another perspective for rising population and he said that the conditions are right for further upward movement in the value of housing.

He commented: "This is a country of some 70 million people with half of the population under 30 and with an average annual population growth of about one per cent," he said, explaining why he believes demand for Turkish property will grow”.

Turkey could soon benefit from an influx of German investors

Turkish economy could soon benefit from an influx of German investors, a media report has stated.

A group of potential investors from Germany led by the Lower Saxony Minister of Economy, Labor and Transportation Jorg Bode are on a visit to Turkey's third-largest city on the Aegean coast. Top officials from 43 German companies, overseeing an annual turnover of EUR 10 billion and more than 50,000 employees, will examine the investment opportunities in Izmir .

Ahmet Guler, European Turkish Businessmen Association's (BTEU) Chairman said that Izmir could become the favorite location for German investors and this is the seventh business visit by delegates from Lower Saxony.

Today's Zaman stated that the south-east European country was becoming increasingly popular with various groups, including holiday home owners and investors.

The publication said there are many factors that make Turkey's real estate market attractive for foreigners - and the level of investment is still rising.

Explaining on the country's appeal, Today's Zaman stated that overseas property buyers in Turkey have come from a wide range of countries, including Germany, Belgium, the US, France and the Netherlands.

According to the Turkish Daily News, Turkey's tourism industry could soon benefit from an influx of German holidaymakers. Turkey has been promoted as a holiday destination in various regions of Germany. This could help overseas property owners in Turkey, as they may have more visitors staying in rental accommodation.