A number of early Turkish media reports, including the T24 news site, strongly suggest that Turkey’s acclaimed Citizenship By Investment (CBI) program may be implementing a price increase from $400,000 to $600,000 in 2024.
As of October 16, 2023, the country has also increased the required property value for the Turkish Golden Visa:
In order to obtain a Turkish residency permit by investing in property, foreign buyers will now have to shell out $200,000, instead of the previous $75,000, and $50,000 required for properties in smaller towns and cities.
Given this steep price increase for the residency program, an increase to Turkey’s CBI program seems all but inevitable in 2024.
But how will the market respond to the increase?
At the previous minimum price of $250,000 and a minimum hold period of just 3 years, getting Turkish citizenship and a passport by buying real estate was a no-brainer: The country boasts livable cities, spectacular coastal scenery, exceptional affordability, as well as a highly central location.
The earlier price increase to $400,000 killed off a lot of the lower middle class demand for the program, and once a price increase to $600,000 comes into effect, the Turkish CBI will once again become a product for HNWI and UHNWI buyers only.
The Turkish 50% price increase, while steep, is not nearly as significant as the one recently implemented by St Kitts and Nevis (which doubled their minimum contributions at short notice).
In a similar vein, Greece also doubled the pricing requirement for properties based in Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Santorini.
The Turkish program changes could also be good news for emerging CBI players like Egypt, where a property investment of $300,000 (or a donation of $250,000) will earn you second citizenship and a passport in under 12 months.
Other programs that may benefit from the change include the Cyprus Golden Visa program, which, apart from Malta and Gibraltar (also island nations), is one of the only European countries that offers a direct permanent residency by property investment going into 2024.
Whether the market will react positively to the price increase for Turkey’s residency by property investment option and any incoming increases to the Turkish CBI program remains to be seen.
Yet what is clear is that the general trend for the investment migration industry is one of significantly escalating pricing.
So if you’re thinking about the Turkish citizenship program (or any other programs), be sure to take action on this and apply asap to avoid the incoming price increases.
If you’d like to apply for Turkish Citizenship By Investment before the increase takes effect, we’d be happy to put you in touch with our trusted suppliers for Bodrum, Istanbul and Antalya.
Simply drop us a mail if you’d like us to connect you with them.
This is a developing story and we’ll update this article as more official information becomes available.
