The Turkish banking sector increased its credit support to companies operating in the construction field by 12 billion 951 million liras in 2019 compared to the previous year. Thus, the total credit stock of the construction sector increased to 245 billion 579 billion lira.
With the measures taken by the government and the process that started with the reduction of housing loan interest rates under the leadership of public banks, the postponed housing demand was revived, while the expectations for 2020 were positively affected.
Real estate sector representatives expect serious activity in both sales and new investments in the new year.
Last year’s activity in the sector was also reflected in construction loans. According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) data, the stock of loans extended by the banking sector to companies operating in the field of construction increased by 5.6 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year, reaching 245 billion 579 million lira.
The credit stock, which was at the level of 232 billion 628 million lira at the end of 2018, increased by 12 billion 951 million lira in the one-year period.
Istanbul is the clear leader
Istanbul and Ankara received the lion’s share of the loans extended to the construction sector. According to end-2018 data, Istanbul maintained its position as the city with the highest loan volume in 2019, with a share of 51 percent, as in 2018. Istanbul’s construction loan stock was recorded as 125 billion 642 million liras as of the end of last year.
After Istanbul, Ankara ranked second with a share of 30 percent and a credit stock of 73 billion 778 million lira. Ankara’s credit stock increased by 13.7 percent and Istanbul’s by 5.8 percent in a one-year period.
These two provinces were followed by Izmir with a loan balance of 6.2 billion lira, Kocaeli with 3.7 billion lira, Antalya with 3.5 billion lira, Bursa with 2.6 billion lira and Gaziantep with 1.9 billion lira.
Credit stock change
Considering the loans provided in the field of construction, the province where the loan stock increased the most in a year was Ankara with 8.9 billion lira. Ankara was followed by Istanbul with 6.9 billion liras, Izmir with 132.9 million liras, Denizli with 71.7 million liras and Trabzon with 54 million liras.
Bursa was recorded as the province where the credit stock decreased the most. The loan stock in Bursa decreased by 429.1 million lira in one year. Bursa was followed by Gaziantep with 347.5 million liras, Mersin with 317.5 million liras, Kocaeli with 289 million liras and Adana with 276.3 million liras.
The provinces with the lowest construction loan balance are Bayburt with 11.9 million lira, Ardahan with 13 million lira, Iğdır with 30.5 million lira, Kilis with 35.5 million lira and Hakkari with 36.3 million lira.
