Has the 2020 economic plan saved real estate investment in Turkey?

No one can deny that the Turkish economy knew a big crisis that was not expected in the early 2020 due to the sudden appearance of the Corona pandemic in the world and the registration of its first cases in Turkey last March, which forced the authorities to impose preventive measures on top of them freezing aviation and closing public utilities.

A state of quarantine that resulted in huge losses, mainly the decrease in the value of the Turkish lira, and the decline in tourism, one of the most important sources of income of the country. 

But, do these conditions mean that the Turkish economy is not strong enough, or did the Turkish government create an alternative that enables its economy to survive and bypass the year 2020 with the least possible losses?

Because the comparison clarifies a lot of confusion, we will try in this article to find out the similarities between the Turkish economy and other economies of different countries around the world during the pandemic, as well as the differences that made Turkey distinguished, of the rest of the world.

As we mentioned in the beginning of our article, it was evident that the global economy knew very difficult conditions in the face of the Corona pandemic, which led to the almost total suspension of major international companies and the collapse of others, while the remaining companies resorted to offering multiple solutions in order to address the situation that the pandemic produced such as layoffs and mitigation of expenses, and even loaning from banks to reduce the size of burdens, such as companies that have a large number of workers.

As for some well-known companies, they did not hesitate to declare bankruptcy due to the great pressure like the American car rental giant, Hertz, despite its 100 years of existence.

The financial bankruptcy of Hertz led to the layoffs of more than 10,000 workers in North America, equivalent to 27% of its workers in the world.

And it did not stop at "Hertz", as the well-known British company "FlyB" for aviation also announced that it would not tolerate the effects of Corona and bankruptcy after 40 years of service and in turn laid off two thousand employees.

How did the Turkish economy remain strong throughout the Corona crisis?

In addition to tourism and exports, real estate was a prominent sector in the Turkish economy during the last ten years. The activity of buying property in Turkey, whether locally or by foreigners, has witnessed a large movement that led to the sale of tens of thousands of Turkish properties to multiple nationalities, especially Iraqis. Iranians, Russians and Afghans.

In view of the importance of the real estate sector in Turkey, construction companies have resorted to offering effective alternative plans during the time of Corona, for them to maintain the process of selling property in Turkey, such as reducing the prices of apartments in Istanbul and reducing real estate prices in Turkey in general in order to cover the cost of construction at least, although some projects were ready for habitation.

The construction companies in Turkey also rushed to open the door to online selling, that is, buying the property online immediately after announcing the freezing of international aviation, which in one way or another contributed to maintaining the activity in a vital sector that Turkey relied on a lot.

Actions which according to those familiar with the price of Turkish properties and related affairs, will lead to the ease of movement of the Turkish economy after the gradual return of life, especially as the pandemic is restrained in Turkey, and after the resumption of international flights towards more than 40 countries around the world.

Experts refer the reasons for the steadiness and improvement of the Turkish economy after the pandemic has gradually passed away, to the plan developed by the Turkish government to face the negative effects of the Corona pandemic, which it’s called "the economic shield" where it has  allocated about $ 30 billion of loans to many companies and institutions and also financial assistance to millions of needy families.

The solidarity from the Turkish people and Turkish businessmen also contributed to strengthening the public treasury with more than two billion Turkish liras, which kept the Turkish economy strong thanks to the honorable position of its people.

Compared to many countries in the world, the Turkish economy has shown that it has responded strongly to the crisis, as the value of medical and food assistance provided by Ankara to many countries that were failing in the midst of the pandemic confirmed Turkey’s self-sufficiency and solid plans in the face of the transitional crisis.

For its part, Turkey expressed to the world the steadfastness of its health sector, especially by opening the largest medical city in terms of intensive care beds in the time of Corona, "the medical city of Basaksehir" at a time when the largest countries in the American and European continents were suffering from a severe shortage, not to mention the construction of two hospitals in Less than 45 days to contain Covid-19 cases.

Furthermore what increases the durability of the Turkish economy in recent years is due to the remarkable migration of businessmen from various countries around the world to Turkey due to the low taxes on companies compared to European countries, in addition to the strong infrastructure projects of the country like,the Istanbul airport, the subway that passes Below the waters of the Bosphorus Strait and the fourth largest bridge in the world, " Osman Gazi" and the giant "Ilisu" dam project on the banks of the Tigris River.