Average rent price in İstanbul exceeds minimum wage

Photo: John Walker/Flickr

Rent prices have more than doubled in a year across Turkey, with the increase rate exceeding 200 percent in some places.

In İstanbul, the average rent price is currently 6,500 lira, more than 50 percent higher than the minimum monthly wage of 4,250 lira, according to a report by Dünya newspaper based on figures from Emlakjet, a real estate portal. 

The districts with the highest price increases are Sarıyer (227 percent), Bakırköy (187 percent) and Şişli (165 percent) in İstanbul. Throughout the country, the districts of Konyaaltı (265 percent) and Alanya (240 percent) in the southern city of Antalya saw the highest rent increases.

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According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the annual increase in housing expenditures was 51.4 percent in March. The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality announced on April 4 that the living costs in the city increased by 73 percent in a year. 

The sharp increase in rent prices has changed people's criteria for choosing homes, according to the Dünya report. While people used to consider the distance from home to work, the building age and earthquake resistance, an affordable price has become the most important factor now.

Two factors in the price hikes were the increased demands for city centers following the ease of pandemic measures and the slowdown in the construction of new buildings, Makbule Yönel-Maya, the head of a real estate company, told the newspaper.

Flat sharing

Also, flat-sharing, which was mostly a student thing in the past, has become more popular among the working population in İstanbul in recent years, she said.

A Facebook group named "Sharing Flats in İstanbul" has more than 61,000 members. Several new adverts are posted on the page every day, by both locals and foreigners based in the city. 

Among those who post adverts, there are those who state their professions as doctor, architect and various white-collar and NGO jobs. (VK)