Turkish houses sell like hotcakes amid high inflation

STORY: Turkish houses sell like hotcakes amid high inflation DATELINE: April 24, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:49 LOCATION: Ankara CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the apartments and houses in Turkey 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): CEM GULER, Real estate expert 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ENVER ERKAN, Chief economist at Istanbul based Tera Securities 4. various of interior of an apartment STORYLINE: Residential property sales are soaring in Turkey as households believe that buying a house is a sound investment for hedging against galloping inflation, experts said. As the inflation rate topped 60 percent in March, house sales in the month jumped 20.6 percent year on year to 134,170 units, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced last week. The record sales came amid shrinking supply and a slowdown in new investments due to steep cost increases in the construction industry. Real estate professionals think that the rush for houses will continue so long as the inflation rate remains elevated.