Turkish real estate sales to foreign citizens increased by 98 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2015, official data showed.

Between January and September 2019, foreigners bought 32,268 homes in Turkey, up 98 percent from the same period in 2015.

Figures from the Turkish Statistical Authority revealed that Yemeni nationals entered the list of most foreigners buying property throughout Turkey, and were even among the top 10 on the same list.

According to the same source, the real estate sector in the country has witnessed an unprecedented turnout by Yemenis this year, as the number of houses bought by Yemenis in Turkey rose by 536 percent during the first nine months of 2019, compared with the same period in 2015.

The number of homes bought by Yemenis in Turkey increased to 1,082 between January and September 2019, compared to just 170 in the same period in 2015, the Anatolia news agency reported, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Organization.

The increase in home sales to Yemenis, 5.5 times the increase in sales to other foreigners, during the said period.

Yemenis bought 231 homes in Turkey in 2015, 192 in 2016, 390 in 2017, 851 in 2018 and 1082 in the first nine months of 2019, according to official data from the Turkish Statistical Authority.

Yemenis ranked 20th among the most foreign home buyers in Turkey in 2015, 15th in 2017, 11th in 2018, 9th in 2019, and in 2016 they were out of the 20th list.

"The real estate sector in the country has written a new success story in its sales to foreigners," Gükhan Tash, head of US real estate company Coldwell Banker in Turkey, was quoted by Anatolia as saying.

He added that the sector ended 2018 with records in those sales, and this year will also see "new records."

Home sales to foreigners in the first nine months of 2019 rose 32 percent from the same period in 2018 to 32,268, he said.

"The most striking issue in the sale of houses to foreigners is the increase in the number of properties bought by Yemenis in Turkey," Tash said.

"Yemen is currently experiencing very serious internal unrest, which has driven hundreds of thousands of citizens to emigrate, leaving their homes and countries, this is undoubtedly reflected on the sales of homes in Turkey; Yemenis found in Turkey a safe haven for them."

The number of houses that Yemenis bought in Turkey about 4-5 years ago was between 100 and 200, Tash said.

Due to recent developments and instability in the region, more than 2,200 Yemenis have bought homes in Turkey in the last two and a half years.

A report by Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed monitored the most important factors contributing to the increase of foreigners, especially Arabs, in buying property in Turkey in recent years.

The report indicates that the real estate sector in Turkey has benefited from the decline in the local currency exchange rate during the first half of this year, and the reduction of the value of real estate that enables foreigners to acquire the extraordinary citizenship from $ 1 million to $ 250 thousand. In the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year.