Turkey’s national currency, the lira, continued its downward spiral today after the Central Bank cut interest rates for the fourth time in a row. With inflation running at 20% and the lira shedding half of its value since the start of the year, millions of Turks are being pushed into deeper poverty as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clings to the unorthodox view that lower interest rates will reign in inflation. But it's good news for the swelling number of foreigners fishing for bargains in the country’s property market.

Turkish house sales to foreigners leapt by nearly 50% last month, bringing in billions of dollars, according to Turkey’s state statistics agency. Some 7,363 houses, a record number, were sold to foreigners in November, compared with 4,962 houses in November 2020.

The largest number of customers were from Iran, followed by Iraq and Russia. The bulk of the sales were in Istanbul with 1,922 units. Around half that many were sold in Antalya, a popular resort on the Mediterranean and its soulless capital, Ankara.

“Many are buying houses to acquire Turkish citizenship,” said Erdem Senol, a real estate broker in Istanbul’s Beyoglu neighborhood, which continues to draws foreigners with its racy nightlife and breathtaking views of the Bosporus and Ottoman-era mosques and palaces. “Based on my time at the land office I would say that on average four out of every 10 sales are to foreigners, mostly Middle Easterners,” Senol told Al-Monitor.