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stood on the ground.
Istanbul Airport ​inaugurated​ its third runway​.
Turkey’s airports have served 1.5mn passengers since the coronavirus
(COVID-19) outbreak began, the country’s transport minister ​said​ on June 19.
Turkey reported its first officially recorded coronavirus case on March 11.
Turkey plans to expand its railway network to 18,000 kilometres within five years from the current 12,000​ kilometres, the country’s transport and infrastructure minister ​said​.
9.1.4 ​Construction & Real estate sector news
Home sales in Turkey plunged 44.6% y/y in May​ to 51,000 units, with the steep descent following up on the even sharper drop of 56% y/y seen in April, according to ​data​ from national statistics office TUIK.
However, mortgage-financed homes sales remained robust, rising nearly 24% in May from a year ago to 19,000 units, accounting for more than 36% of all property sales.
First-time homes sales were down 58% y/y to 33,000 units.
In the January-May period, sales contracted by 2.2% y/y to 435,000 units, TUIK also reported. The rise in mortgage-financed sales was a strong 118% y/y to 165,000 units.
Home sales are expected to increase significantly in June​ thanks to low-cost loans that state-owned banks are providing and the lifting of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
“In May, sales improved from April and we are anticipating much higher sales in June,” said Makbule Maya from the property valuation department at lender TSKB.
“Banks are offering loans with maturities of up to 15 years at a monthly interest rate as low as 0.64%. There is immense demand for properties. Our business has tripled over the past couple of weeks,” she added.
9.1.5 ​Tourism sector news
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on June 10 ​extended​ a travel warning for nations outside Europe through the end of August and said that it would observe the evolution of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in terms of deciding when travel by citizens of Germany to nations including Turkey would be possible​.
The approach by Berlin—which includes a move to urge Germans to avoid non-essential travel to the UK, the country which has suffered the worst of Europe’s COVID-19 crisis—comes as a bitter blow to Turkey’s tourism industry.
Last year, more than 5mn German tourists visited Turkey, accounting for 11% of all international holidaymakers that arrived in the country. The numbers of German visitors stood at 3.6mn in 2017 and 4.5mn in 2018, years in which the market suffered from fears generated by an attempted coup against the Erdogan administration and a wave of terrorist attacks.
61​ TURKEY Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com