Hüseyin Şentoker, president of the Assistance and Solidarity Association of Kuşadası Real Estate Agents (KUŞEMDER), said that when they first established the association the Ministry of Trade and Industry had issued the Obligatory Standards for Real Estate Agencies, leading registered realtors to believe “that anyone, including those grocers, waiters and tourist guides who were dealing in property sales as a secondary job, would now be unable to do it.”However the increasing interest from foreigners in the region’s property drew more people from abroad: The region now contains about 4,000 foreigners who own houses and a similar number involved in construction cooperatives. Şentoker further noted that as the number of foreigners settling in Kuşadası increased, so too did the number of off-record realtors, reported the Anatolia news agency.
“As the association, we don’t have the authority to question them. We are in deep financial trouble. They make Web sites and without having a fixed office and a license, they engage in property sales. They distribute their business cards and pretend to be realtors. We took some of those cards with us and appealed to Aydın Governor Mustafa Malay, the Aydın Police Department and officials from the tax department. But unfortunately they did not pay any attention to us. These off-record realtors should be supervised as soon as possible, and some steps should be taken to relieve us [from this unfair competition],” Şentoker complained.
No supervision, no control
The owner of Kale Estate Agency in Kuşadası, Yusuf Çelik, also said that the number of off-record realtors peaked in the summer months, adding: “Foreigners have been showing great interest in properties in Kuşadası in recent years. Their number will continue growing. The sole reason behind this increase is the high profitability [of the region’s property market]. Since there is no established system to supervise and control this sector here, they make an undeservedly high profit and the number of such enterprises is rising. The foreign off-record realtors, whose number is rapidly rising, fleece their own fellow citizens. With the abrogation of the law that prevented property sales to foreigners, the real property market has been booming.”
Çelik also stressed the need for steps to be taken against this unregulated business. The number of registered real estate agencies with foreigner partners is no higher than 15, but the number of unregistered foreigners marketing properties on their Web sites is over 40, Çelik claimed.
According to data obtained from the Kuşadası Office of the Register of Title Deeds, about 4,000 properties were bought by foreigners between the years 2002 and 2006. There are now about 5,000 properties for sale.
