"Turkey has really emerged as a prime property market over the past decade," Paul Benedek from Solaris Villas recently told World of Property magazine. "In the late 1990s there was recognition by the Turkish Government that tourism could bring a large boost to the economy and as a result they created Tourist Development Regions (TDRs) with funding from various sources including the World Bank.

"The Turkish government then started developing the infrastructure to support tourism in newly created development areas. This infrastructure has made Turkey more accessible, with new roads and enlarged airports being built and existing road and air routes being expanded, and has made Turkish property more popular."

Some of the best opportunities for investing in Turkish property are to be found in the country's Tourist Development Regions, located in Cesme, Dalaman, Didim, North Antalya and Managvat and Oymapinar.

The TDR in Cesme is located 80 kilometres from Izmir city centre, covers a planned area of 10,400 hectare and will incorporate a 72,000 tourism bed capacity. The Dalaman TDR benefits from the area's International Airport and with a planned area of 22,859 hectares, will be home to 70,000 tourist beds. Didim TDR also has the advantage of being located near international airports, being 150 kilometres from Adnan Menderes airport and 90 kilometres from Bodrum airport. This Turkish region will also be served by a ferry which will make daily trips between Bodrum and Altinkum and the region's Apolion temple is likely to attract a steady stream of tourists. The 12,000 hectare planned area is set to include 50,000 tourist beds.

Twenty-five kilometres from the city centre, the North Antalya TDR will cover 30,000 hectares and will also incorporate 50,000 tourism beds and the Managvat and Oymapinar region, 85 kilomettres from Antalya city centre, is set to become home to 30,000.

Benedek states that the property development of Akbuk, a small town in the Didim TDR, is typical of those within the districts. "Akbük is currently a small Turkish town with a number of property developments underway," he says. "The prices here are very reasonable with apartments averaging £50,000. The plans for the town are that the size of the harbour will increase and a marina will be built. A number of good-sized hotels will also be developed, along with a golf course.

"The road infrastructure is planned to be expanded with direct links to the airport, changing the travel time from Bodrum International Airport from a current one-hour-and-ten-minutes to around 35 minutes. From most UK airports you could be on the beach within four hours traveling time, thus making the town of Akbük a future holiday and property investment hotspot."

Typical of the large scale development in Turkey's TDRs, Didim will see the completion of a marina in 2009 which is likely to push up the price of property in the area. Didim Marina (pictured) will consist of two large breakwaters and will offer mooring facilities for 450 yachts and boats. It will cover an area of 114,000 square metres and will include a dry dock, with a capacity for 650 yachts and full technical facilities. Moreover, the Marina area will house a shopping centre, bank, doctors, swimming pool and health club, restaurant and bars, hotels, sports facilities, helicopter pad and a customs port. Trips to the Greek Islands of Kos, Samos, and Patmos will also leave from here.

To give just two examples of Turkish property currently available, Solaris Apartments is a new development in the town of Akbük within a four-minute walk to the beach. On site facilities include a bar, gymnasium and restaurant in the setting of landscaped gardens. Two-bedroom apartments start at £50,000 rising to £85,000 for a luxury three-bedroom duplex penthouse with an uninterrupted sea view. Alternatively, in the TDR of Antalya, a four-bedroom restored villa with a private pool is currently on the market at 175,000 euros through Islands Blue.

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Article first published 4 June 2007