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Mortgage in Turkey in 2026

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Authors: Julia Samsonova, Irina Potorochenko
Verified by: Mikhail Bulanov
Turkey
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According to official Turkish statistics, 22,131 homes were purchased with a mortgage in August 2026, accounting for 17.4% of sales and 7.2% more than a year earlier. Turkish banks are willingly offering loans to foreigners, while mortgage terms for Turkish and foreign citizens differ insignificantly. Read more about banks, mortgage rates and terms, and instalment payment plans from developers being an advantageous non-mortgage option, in our article. 

Turkish banks popular with foreigners

Some banks offer plenty of products to foreigners and publish information about their services in English. Most popular banks with foreigners:

Mortgage terms in Turkey

Banks provide different mortgage terms and make customised offers to various borrowers and properties. Mortgage products in some banks are fundamentally different, coming with fixed or variable interest rates and fixed or instalment payment plans (Garanti BBVA). However, some terms are the same.

Loan currency

Turkish lira; some banks also offer foreign-currency or currency-linked loans to buyers living abroad

Loan to value

typically up to 50–75% of the appraised value

Loan term

generally up to 10 years

Monthly payment

commonly no more than 40% of documented income

Note that the lending bank is your transaction partner making a decision to grant a mortgage loan evaluating the risks associated with the transaction and the borrower. A mortgage loan is an investment for a bank.

Turkish mortgages for foreigners

Lending banks are interested in issuing mortgages to foreigners and the lending process is the same for Turkish and foreign citizens. While it is difficult to verify most of the foreign applicant’s data, the lending bank still gets protection because the purchased property will serve as collateral for a loan, which is why foreigners usually do not experience any difficulty in approving mortgage applications.

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Mortgage rates in Turkey

The rates fluctuate together with the national currency. Use the mortgage calculator Hesapkurdu to see and compare up-to-date offers of most Turkish banks.

Bank mortgage rates also depend on such individual factors as the loan amount and term, the borrower’s income, and down payment. 

See below a sample mortgage calculation from ZiraatBank that we requested (as of May 2025):

Loan amount

6,000,000 TL ($154,497 )

Loan term

120 months (10 years)

Monthly payment

162,977 TL ($4,196)

Mortgage rate 

2.59% per month

Bank’s mortgage fees and legal services

42,560 TL ($1,095)

Total cost of mortgage

19,599,856 TL ($504 687)

Rates of foreign currency-denominated mortgages for non-citizens

Some banks, such as YapiKredi, issue mortgages denominated in the currency of foreigners’ residence or income repatriation country, e.g. euro, GB pound, US dollar, Swiss franc. Foreign currency-denominated mortgages were popular with non-citizens in Turkey for several years, yet the soaring inflation has been hitting the Turkish national currency hard in recent years tumbling the demand for foreign currency-denominated loans. Most banks do not offer such a mortgage product or discuss the rates case by case.

Documents for mortgage application in Turkey

The following documents are to be submitted together with your mortgage application:

  1. Certificate of ownership (TAPU) for the selected property.
  2. Copy of passport or ID (specifying the applicant’s residence address abroad).
  3. Official tax return for the previous year in the residence country.
  4. Personal income tax certificate for the last quarter signed by the employer or pension payslip (for retirees).
  5. Bank statement for the previous six months. 
  6. Proof of existing assets. Any movable or immovable property owned by the borrower and located in the home country may be eligible collateral to secure and get approval of a mortgage loan or more beneficial mortgage terms. Inform your lending bank about your financial assets and/or real estate and produce documentary proofs, e.g. the excerpt out of the state real estate register or proof of rental income, securities gain, etc.
  7. Credit record in the home country (may be requested from any bank or credit bureau).

The bank may additionally request reference from the overseas employer or your utility bills as proof of address. Although not compulsorily required, these documents might help to get better mortgage terms.

Notarised copies of documents must be translated into Turkish or English (as required by a particular bank). The mortgage documents should be submitted by both the borrower and the guarantor (if any). 

After preliminary approval, the bank arranges a property appraisal and makes its final offer. The transaction requires DASK natural-disaster insurance; property and life insurance depend on the lender’s terms. The Land Registry checks whether the property may be sold to a foreigner; separate Ministry of National Defence approval is no longer required.

When all the documents are ready, one should make an appointment in the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey to transfer the ownership rights. Execution of the documents on the ownership right’s transfer must be attended by all the transaction parties: the seller, buyer (or his authorised representative), and bank clerk providing the agreement with the payment plan.

These are standard documents requested from all non-citizens regardless of their home country.

Mortgage repayment

The borrower opens an account with the lending bank to make monthly mortgage repayments. The bank makes monthly withdrawals from this account. Therefore, it is important to ensure there are enough funds in the account for mortgage payments. It is sufficient to produce the taxpayer number and notarized translated passport copy to open a bank account. 

A bank account in Turkey may be funded in several ways:

  1. By wire transfer from your bank account in the home country. Specify the name and address of the bank, the code of the bank unit, and IBAN (the international bank account number) of your Turkish bank account.
  2. Via online-banking of a Turkish bank. Most Turkish banks have English mobile apps or websites with personal accounts for customers to make any banking transactions online. 

Step-by-step plan: registration will take about 2 months

Step 1. Collecting documents 

Up to 5 days

Collect a set of documents in the country of residence (salary certificate, credit history, proof of real estate, assets and additional income, if any).

Step 2. Applying to a Turkish bank 

1 day

Translate the documents and certify them with a Turkish notary. Apply for a mortgage loan. If you do not want to deal with paperwork personally, you can issue a power of attorney for a Turkish lawyer.

Step 3. Real estate appraisal

Up to 7 days

The selected property is evaluated by the bank's appraiser.

Step 4. Confirming the bank's mortgage offer

Up to 5 days

The bank prepares the final offer of mortgage terms within a few days. The applicant has 3 weeks to review and confirm the offer.

Step 5. Checking property restrictions and obtaining insurance

Up to 3 months

The Land Registry checks whether the property may be sold to a foreign buyer. Mandatory DASK earthquake insurance is generally arranged within a day.

Step 6. Registering the deal with the cadastral office and executing a mortgage agreement

Up to 5 days

Sign a tripartite agreement on the transfer of ownership in the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre between the seller, buyer, and lending bank. Get a TAPU (a Turkish title deed).

Step 7. Opening an account for mortgage repayments

Up to 1 day

Mortgage repayments will be debited automatically from the borrower’s account at the lending bank. To open an account, you will need a Turkish tax number, which can be obtained within an hour at any tax office in Turkey.

Extra costs of Turkish mortgages

All the extra costs of getting a mortgage and closing the deal are paid by the applicant:

State duty for a TAPU

16,600 TL ($427)

Bank’s mortgage commission

0,5–1% of the loan amount

Property appraisal

from 3,000 TL ($77)

Notarial and translation fees

from $60 for each document

Property and borrower’s life insurance

from $100 a year

Instalment plans from developers as beneficial alternative to mortgages

Mortgage is the last resort to consider when acquiring real estate in Turkey due to the high rates. Over a ten-year mortgage term you will ultimately pay twice the price of your property. Instalment plans from developers are the best option right now.

Elena Milishenkova Elena Milishenkova Investment Project Manager at Tranio

Turkish developers give their clients an opportunity to buy properties by instalments. The compulsory down payment does not exceed 60% of the property price. The residual amount is to be paid by regular instalments made once a month or once every three months for up to three years. The repayment term impacts the discount provided by the developer. The buyer making a one-off repayment gets the maximum discount from the developer. 

Turkish citizenship by real estate acquisition with mortgage or instalment plan

The investor seeking to obtain a Turkish passport must acquire one or several properties with a total cadastral value of at least 400,000 US dollars. The real estate ownership certificate (TAPU) serves as the legal grounds to obtain citizenship. The bank must confirm transfer of at least 400,000 US dollars for real estate acquisition. If the property is acquired with a mortgage loan, citizenship will be granted only after the repayments have exceeded the required threshold.

The buyer going with a payment instalment plan may apply for citizenship, but in this case a TAPU will be obtained only after instalments are made in full.

FAQ about mortgages in Turkey

How to take out a mortgage in Turkey?

To obtain a mortgage in Turkey, a foreign buyer collects and translates the documents, applies to a bank, pays for the property appraisal, signs the offer and completes the sale and mortgage registration at the Land Registry.

Can a mortgage in Turkey be obtained remotely?

It is possible. Banks accept mortgage applications from clients' attorneys acting by proxy and allow for execution of the mortgage agreement by such representatives, usually a real estate agent or a lawyer. Note that a notarized power of attorney must expressly specify the respective powers conferred on your representative.

Can a Turkish property be mortgaged at the stage of construction?

It is possible. A mortgage loan for properties at the construction stage may be obtained from a lending bank bound by a contract with the respective developer. Ask your developer to provide you with a list of the partner banks for mortgages or instalment plans.

Can the borrower rent out mortgaged property in Turkey?

It is possible. The rental agreement must be approved by the lending bank. Banks approve renting out mortgaged apartments as rental income will be an additional guarantee for the bank. If the property is purchased on an instalment plan, there are no rental restrictions. After the down payment, you can immediately move in yourself or settle a tenant.

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