Over the past 15 years, the average residential unit size in Türkiye has decreased by approximately 24 square meters. This was reported by Professor Dr. Soner Göktan on his official social media account.
The continuous rise in construction and land costs, together with declining housing affordability, is fundamentally changing the market structure. Against the backdrop of rising price per square meter and decreasing purchasing power, apartments are becoming smaller and smaller.
According to the analysis conducted, the average size of apartments in Istanbul has decreased from 114 m² to less than 100 m². This trend is driven by several factors at once: rising real estate prices, higher costs of construction materials and land, high loan interest rates, and reduced access to mortgage financing.
In his post, Professor Soner Göktan also pointed out that the confidence index in Türkiye’s construction sector has not exceeded the 100 mark even once over the past 12 months. In October 2025, it fell to 83.7 — the lowest level in five years — and in November rose only to 84.9. The sub-index of new orders stands at 77, indicating a low ability to attract new customers.
At the same time, the expected employment level is 92.7 — reflecting a structural gap between government projects (earthquake-resistant housing, infrastructure, social housing) and the private sector.
The professor personally calculated the average residential size in Türkiye over recent years:
• 2010 — 121 m²
• 2021 — 113 m²
• 2022 — 105 m²
• 2023 — 98 m²
• 2024 — 97 m²
• 2025 — 98 m²
These figures confirm that over 15 years the average housing size has decreased by almost 24 m².
Formally, the number of constructed apartments remains stable, but the total area is decreasing. In effect, Türkiye is trying to solve the problem of housing affordability by building more units with smaller sizes.
At the same time, credit channels for both buyers and developers are narrowing. It is becoming increasingly difficult for households to obtain a mortgage, while developers struggle to attract project financing, which limits the scale of new construction.
Despite the fact that nominal real estate prices remain high, in real terms there is not growth but contraction — both in volume and in housing area.
An inevitable consequence of this trend is a potential supply shortage in the coming years and further aggravation of the housing crisis.
Hunt for Spacious Secondary Housing
In resort regions, the reduction in apartment sizes is felt even more acutely. Turkish families rarely buy small-sized housing — one-bedroom apartments. In resorts oriented toward foreigners or holiday property purchases, the situation is different. Here, the majority of apartments in residential complexes are 1+1, while in regular, non-resort cities, 2+1, 3+1 and larger layouts prevail.
A new one-bedroom (1+1) apartment in Alanya currently has an average size of 45–50 square meters.
Against the backdrop of shrinking sizes in new developments, housing for permanent living in the older residential stock looks particularly attractive. On the secondary market in Alanya, it is possible to find 2+1 apartments with an area of 120–150 square meters, featuring spacious balconies, large bedrooms, and even a separate kitchen. Demand for such layouts remains consistently high, especially in complexes developed by well-known builders.
When Space Matters
In the website catalogue, you can sel ect ready 2+1 apartments in Alanya using the construction year filter (“from” and “to”) in order to clearly track the trend of decreasing sizes. For example, in buildings constructed fr om 2000 to 2015, most listings have an area of 110–130 m².
At the same time, 2+1 apartments in buildings constructed between 2016 and 2025 are mainly 70–90 m², and less often 100–110 m². As a rule, the older the building, the larger the apartment size. In new projects, larger floor areas are found mainly in the premium segment.
Note: Duplex apartments are always larger than linear apartments (website filter — “Ready apartments”). A duplex is a two-level apartment located on either the first two or the top two floors of a building. In modern residential complexes, garden duplexes can also be found — apartments with a private exit to their own garden or to the complex territory and shared garden area. Duplexes are present in almost all new residential projects, whereas in buildings from 2010–2015 they are much less common.
Interested in high-quality secondary real estate in well-maintained residential complexes in Alanya, with spacious apartments in the best locations? Sign up for a free consultation with a licensed real estate expert at Stay Property.