Rising property values, booming tourist numbers and improving air access is making Turkey more attractive to foreign real estate investors, it is claimed.

However, when combined with a weak Turkish Lira, which is down by 53% versus Sterling over the past four years, Turkey’s attraction to foreign property buyers has gained momentum with sales to foreigners in Turkey increasing by 60% year on year during the first six months of 2014, totalling 8,507 property purchases, according to figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute.

For the same period, Istanbul alone recorded a 150% increase in foreign buyers, putting it ahead of the tourist province of Antalya, home to the popular resorts of Alanya, Belek and Kalkan.

Meanwhile, the average price of a new Turkish home was 12.1% higher in June compared to June 2013. It was one of the strongest months for the Turkish property market with 600 foreign purchases in Istanbul, followed by Antalya at 586 and Aydin at 108.

Foreign visitors to Turkey increased by 3.24% year on year in the first three months of 2014, reaching 4.35m, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The second quarter recorded even greater growth, up 6.8% year on year, peaking at 10.9m.