Turkey’s property market began to heat up in May, when a new law was announced allowing 52 new countries to buy Turkish real estate. Five months later and a long-awaited cabinet decree has outlined final details on who will be able to freely purchase property – a move that has turned Turkey’s property up to boiling point.

Indeed, the Turkish government’s plans to allow a total of 129 nationalities to enter its emerging market will see 52 new countries given new rights to purchase real estate.

The latest cabinet decree comes shortly after the Turkish Central Bank revealed an immediate buying boom in the first month following the law’s enactment in May. In those four weeks alone, approximately 1.1 billion US dollars’ worth of real estate was snapped up by foreign investors – four times the total purchased by non-Turkish nationals in the whole of 2011.

Where is the money coming from? The Arabian Gulf.

Gulf investors are queuing up for a taste of Turkey, according to a recent report from Jones Lang LaSalle. The Turkish presence at the Gulf’s major real estate exhibition Cityscape is expected to soar in October, adds the Khaleej Times, as developers target their hunger new customers.

“We are seeing interest in Turkey from a range of investors including sovereign wealth funds, investment funds and private equity funds which have all strongly revived in 2012,” said Kivanc Erman, JLL’s director of capital markets and advisory for Turkey.

With Turkey’s economy set to grow by 4 per cent this year, according to a government report, following 3.2 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012, it is no surprise that the smell of warm Turkey is more appealing than the whiff of the Eurozone economic crisis.

Indeed, this surge in demand follows an already strong 2012, according to one agent, which saw enquiries increasing even in May, before the new law was defined.

Suleyman Akbay, Managing Director of Ocean Wide Properties, comments: “Turkey is making quite a name for itself on the property scene in lieu of Europe’s troubles and the ongoing investments it is making to advance its economy.

“Our clients are constantly amazed at the value for money properties available in prime business and coastal spots – competitive to many ‘distressed’ and heavily reduced property sales currently being seen in Spain, for example. But Turkey’s upper hand is that its values and rental yields are increasing year-on-year where other markets are contracting. Affordable, good connections, lots of new homes, a burgeoning population and now an increasing market presence – Turkey certainly has a beacon to shine.