High city prices should not curtail Istanbul property investment

Investors looking into the possibility of buying property in Istanbul need not be put off by the price, it has been suggested.

According to Ozgul Ozkan Yavuz, director of events and organisations for Istanbul2010, Istanbul can come across, much like London, as an expensive city to live in.

However, as with all metropolitan cities, Ms Yavuz says, it is possible to have a good time even on a budget.

"This is the same for big metropolitan cities and Istanbul is metropolitan," she commented.

"Every kind of budget is possible in Istanbul - you can make it cheap, but there are of course affordable parts and luxury parts."

This will no doubt encourage property market investors to buy in the Turkish conurbation, as will the fact that Istanbul has been named European Capital for Culture for 2010.

Predictions that Turkey will become a European Union member state within the next two years are also likely to stimulate off-plan sales in the city.

Visit our off-plan property Turkey page