A new well-known report underlined once again the key importance of Istanbul –Turkey’s jewel in the crown- in terms of economic and real estate strengths. 

According to a new research by a global real estate services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Istanbul has been qualified as one of the four anchor megacities of Europe, together with Paris, London and Moscow. 

The report published on Dec 11 and entitled “Global300: The New Commercial Geography of Cities”, included Istanbul among 20 top cities in the world and top 10 growing cities. 

“Istanbul is building its position as one of the continent’s megacities, with the fastest-growing economy of any major city in Europe. The city’s Grade A office stock is set to grow by over 57% during the next three years,” the report states. 

The report also qualified Istanbul as “the fastest-growing economy and population of any major city in Europe.”

“This is reflected in its increasing importance as a transport hub, with the number of air passengers to the city almost doubling over the past five years to over 80 million,” the report added. 

The report is based on the Index of Commercial Attraction (ICA) that measures a city’s power and status in economic and real estate areas by referring to the investment volumes, economic output, corporate presence, air connectivity and commercial real estate stock, among others. 

Taking part of the Global300 list shows a city’s productivity, connectivity and power especially in terms of real estate market activity and economic output. In other terms, Istanbul attested once again that it is a hot spot for real state investment, each day with a rising trend not only for domestic but also international buyers. 

According to the recently published Economist Global House Price Index, property prices in Turkey are growing at the second highest rate among all 26 markets around the world, following Hong Kong; while house sales to foreigners are rebounding about by 20 percent compared to the previous year.