Foreigners flock to Turkey
Youthful population and expanding workforce raise expectations, writes Peta Tomlinson
House prices around the world rose 2.4 per cent in the second quarter of this year, the highest jump in two years, according to Knight Frank's Global House Price Index. Dubai leads the pack, with values jumping 21.7 per cent year-on-year but, in Europe, Turkey is the headline act. While the bottom 10 rankings have all been occupied by European countries for four consecutive quarters, Turkey is the continent's strongest performer and in sixth place globally, gaining 12.2 per cent.
Even PwC, in a report for the Urban Land Institute, put Istanbul ahead of London in its rankings this year - the British capital deemed "too expensive" for its economic outlook.
The report's author John Forbes - former long-time PwC real estate partner, and now CEO of real estate consulting business John Forbes Consulting - sees Turkey as a consistent performer.
"Over the last decade, Turkey has featured consistently at or near the top of the lists for both investment and development prospects in the Emerging Trends report. The report is a consensus survey of sentiment, and investors are attracted by the long-term economic prospects for Turkey. While much of the rest of Europe is facing a demographic time bomb, Turkey has a youthful population and an expanding workforce. Despite the short-term political uncertainties, the long-term opportunities are very appealing," Forbes says.
He then referred to Tipping Point, his report for PwC outlining how the years 2012 to 2015 represent a tipping point for the global economy. It showed that, for the first time, the share of world GDP of the emerging economies would exceed that of the developing economies. The number of people regarded as middle class in Asia would surpass that in Europe, and more people would live in towns and cities than the countryside.
"A young, urban middle class in developing Asia will be the dominant source of investment opportunity and capital. Rapid growth and urbanisation will drive raw material demand, creating huge challenges for the real estate industry but also adding to the pool of investment capital," Forbes says.