Best Areas to Buy Property in Istanbul: Living vs Investment

Before discussing specific areas, I always try to understand what the property needs to achieve.

Is the client buying a home for permanent residence or as a second home? Is the goal rental income or long-term capital appreciation? Are there children in the family? Where is the client’s work or office, and how often will they need to travel across the city?

The answers to these questions can completely change the choice of location.

For an investor, I also consider future demand, the amount of new supply that may enter the area, and the property’s potential resale liquidity.

For a family, different factors may become more important: schools and hospitals, transport connections, access to the waterfront or green spaces, everyday infrastructure, and even how convenient it is to reach the property on a daily basis.

This is why an area that makes sense as an investment may not necessarily be the best place for a particular family to live - and vice versa.

A good district does not automatically make every property within it a good purchase.

Zeytinburnu is one of the areas of Istanbul whose transformation I have been watching particularly closely in recent years.

Historically, a significant part of the district was associated with industry, including leather production. Today, especially along the Marmara Sea coastline, the urban environment is very different. Modern residential developments and hotels have appeared, the waterfront has been improved, and the area continues to evolve.

For me, Zeytinburnu’s investment appeal is not simply about new housing. What matters more is that the location itself is changing - its infrastructure, urban environment, connectivity, and the profile of people choosing to live there.

Transport is one of its major advantages. The area has access to Marmaray, major road connections, and convenient access to the Asian side through the Eurasia Tunnel. The renewed Sirkeci–Kazlıçeşme rail corridor has further improved connectivity in this part of Istanbul.

At the same time, I do not see Zeytinburnu purely as an investment location. For family living, I particularly like parts of the district close to the coast. The waterfront offers space for walking, running, cycling, and spending time with children, while schools, healthcare facilities, and everyday services are available nearby.

It is this combination of urban transformation, transport accessibility, modern residential development, and a more comfortable living environment that makes certain parts of Zeytinburnu interesting to me both for living and for long-term investment.

For an investor, it is important to look not only at what an area is today, but at what it is becoming.

This may seem like a minor detail, especially to buyers choosing property in Istanbul for the first time. In practice, however, it can have a significant impact on everyday life.

Istanbul is an old and extremely densely built city. Even in prestigious neighborhoods, you can find narrow streets and buildings surrounded by very tight urban development. A good property in an expensive location does not necessarily mean convenient daily living.

When viewing a property, I always look at how easily you can actually reach and leave the building. On a narrow street, one badly parked car, roadworks, or utility repairs can be enough to make access difficult.

This is why I often consider proximity to a wider road or convenient access to a major city route an advantage.

For international buyers, this can sometimes feel counterintuitive. Living close to a major road may initially be associated mainly with traffic and noise. In Istanbul, however, there is another side to consider: how easily you will be able to move around the city and reach your own home every day.

Of course, I always look for balance. Good road access should not mean having apartment windows directly facing a noisy highway.

In Istanbul, it is important to evaluate not only the address of a property, but how practical that address will be in everyday life.

When evaluating property for investment, I look beyond what already exists around a development. I also pay close attention to vacant land and the potential for future construction.

Imagine a new residential development with strong specifications, attractive views, and relatively little competition. Today, the property may look like an excellent opportunity. But if large areas of developable land remain nearby, the situation could be very different several years from now.

By the time an investor decides to sell, several new residential projects may have appeared in the surrounding area. A property that is then five or seven years old could find itself competing with a substantial supply of brand-new apartments.

This does not mean that investing in rapidly developing areas is a bad strategy. Quite the opposite: urban development itself can be an important driver of property values. The key is to assess the balance between an area’s growth potential and the amount of future supply.

So when I evaluate an investment property, I do not only ask, “What is here today?” I also ask:

“What will this location look like when my client is ready to exit the investment?”

For me, buying well is only one half of an investment strategy. The other half is understanding in advance who the future buyer may be and what competing properties will be on the market when it is time to sell.

An investment property should be evaluated not only at the point of entry, but also with a future exit in mind.

I take a different approach when evaluating property in established, prestigious residential areas. Acıbadem, on Istanbul’s Asian side, is a good example.

It is a mature residential location with well-developed infrastructure, strong transport connections, healthcare facilities, and everything needed for everyday life. Because the area is already largely established, opportunities for major new residential developments are more limited than in parts of Istanbul that are still undergoing large-scale development.

From an investment perspective, this changes the way I evaluate an opportunity.

In a developing area, I want to understand how much additional property could potentially be built around a project. In Acıbadem, I often look at the opposite question: how scarce is high-quality new housing within an already desirable and established location?

This is why selected new developments here can be interesting both for buyers looking for a home and for investors. I currently work with a project in Acıbadem that I find particularly interesting for this reason: its value is not simply that it is new, but that it combines modern residential development with an established urban environment.

For a buyer, that distinction matters. You can purchase a new property without having to wait several years for roads, schools, hospitals, shops, and other essential infrastructure to develop around it - the neighborhood is already functioning as a complete place to live.

For an investor, limited availability of high-quality new housing may also mean less future competition from large volumes of newly built property.

Sometimes investment potential comes from rapid development. In other cases, it comes from the scarcity of quelity new supply in an already established location.

When choosing property, I do not base my recommendations on which Istanbul districts happen to receive the most attention in international real estate advertising. Sometimes the more rational choice is an established location that foreign buyers simply know less about.

Bahçelievler is one such example for me.

It is a well-established residential district on Istanbul’s European side, with the infrastructure needed for everyday life. Schools, healthcare facilities, shops, and other essential services are already part of the local environment. I also value its transport connections, wider urban roads, and convenient access to other parts of Istanbul.

Bahçelievler can be particularly interesting when a client is looking not for a resort lifestyle or a purely short-term investment, but for a practical urban environment for long-term family living.

At the same time, I do not believe that being located in a good district automatically makes every development attractive. The individual property still matters: construction quality, the developer’s track record, the precise location within the district, transport access, the development’s facilities, and future resale potential.

I currently work with a development in Bahçelievler that I consider a good example of this combination: an established location paired with a high-quality modern residential product from a well-known developer.

For some international buyers, eligibility for Turkish citizenship may also be part of the purchase strategy. Even then, I would never recommend choosing a property simply because it formally qualifies for the program. The property should still make sense as a real estate purchase in its own right.

I prefer to choose the property that genuinely fits the buyer’s objectives, rather than the district that is easiest to market.

Maslak represents a very different side of Istanbul. It is a modern business district characterized by high-rise developments, office towers, and the presence of major Turkish and international companies.

From an investment perspective, I am particularly interested in opportunities that sometimes appear here during the early stages of a new development. With the right entry price and careful property selection, an early-stage purchase can be attractive for investors looking for capital appreciation as construction progresses and the project develops.

But I do not view Maslak purely as an investment location. For someone who works or runs a business in this part of Istanbul, living close to the office can make a significant difference to everyday quality of life.

In Istanbul, distance measured in kilometers does not necessarily reflect actual travel time. This is why I always consider a client’s daily routine when evaluating a location. A home in an area that may be considered more prestigious can become far less practical if several hours each day are spent commuting.

Maslak and its immediate surroundings offer the infrastructure associated with modern city life, including transport connections, schools and universities, healthcare facilities, shopping, and major business centers. For the right lifestyle, this can make the area a very practical choice.

At the same time, high-rise urban living is not for everyone. If a buyer is looking for a more intimate neighborhood, lower-rise streets, and a quieter residential atmosphere, I would consider other locations. This is precisely why I do not rank Istanbul districts universally from “best” to “worst.”

In Istanbul, the right location is not necessarily the most prestigious address. It is the location that fits the buyer’s actual life and objectives.

For anyone considering property in Istanbul, questions about earthquakes are entirely reasonable. I do not think this risk should be ignored - but I also do not believe it can be reduced to a simple list of “safe” and “unsafe” districts.

When evaluating a property, I look more closely at the individual building: its age, the standards under which it was designed and constructed, its structural system, local ground conditions, and the technical documentation available for the development.

I pay particular attention to newer construction. Türkiye’s current Building Earthquake Code came into force in 2019 and establishes requirements for structural design based on seismic hazard and site conditions.

However, the year of construction alone is not a guarantee of quality. I also consider the developer, the execution of the project, and the documentation available to demonstrate compliance with applicable requirements.

I am equally cautious about judging an individual building solely from a district-level earthquake risk map. Such maps can be useful for understanding the broader urban risk picture, but they are not a substitute for assessing the characteristics of a specific building.

This is why I never tell a client that a particular district or building is “completely safe” in an earthquake. No responsible adviser can make that guarantee in Istanbul. The objective is to understand the relevant risk factors and take them into account as carefully as possible before purchasing.

When considering seismic risk, I do not choose a “safe district” based on a single map. I evaluate the specific location and the specific building.

The reputation of a prestigious district does not automatically make a property a good purchase. Even two residential developments located very close to each other can have very different long-term prospects.

This is why, once I have identified a suitable area, I move to the level of the specific micro-location and the property itself.

I look at where the building sits within the neighborhood, how easy it is to reach, what immediately surrounds it, whether there is vacant land that could be developed in the future, and even what may happen to the view from the apartment several years from now.

I then evaluate the development itself: construction quality, the developer’s track record, layouts, facilities, the number of units, and the overall positioning of the project. For an investment purchase, I also ask a separate question: who is likely to be the next buyer of this property?

This matters. A property may look excellent in a developer’s presentation today, but if several years from now it becomes difficult to distinguish from dozens of competing properties, that can directly affect its resale liquidity.

When the property is being purchased as a home, the priorities shift slightly. I try to imagine the client’s normal day: where they will go in the morning, how long the journey will take, where the school, shops, or hospital are located, whether there is somewhere pleasant to walk, and how convenient it will be to return home in the evening.

This is why I do not recommend choosing an apartment based solely on photographs, price per square meter, or the reputation of the district. A good purchase is the result of many details that become important long after the sales presentation is over.

I evaluate not only the property my client is buying today, but whether that purchase is still likely to make sense several years from now.

There is no universal answer to this question - which is exactly why I do not rank Istanbul districts from first to last.

If a buyer is interested in a transforming coastal location with modern residential development and strong transport connections, I may consider selected parts of Zeytinburnu.

If the objective is to find high-quality new property within an established and prestigious environment on the Asian side, Acıbadem can offer interesting opportunities, particularly because new supply is more limited.

For family living, I also consider Bahçelievler, an established residential district with developed urban infrastructure and good connectivity.

Maslak can be particularly logical for an investor or for someone whose work and daily life are centered around Istanbul’s modern business districts.

But even within each of these areas, I would not recommend every development. Once the general location has been selected, the most important work begins: evaluating the specific micro-location, the building, the developer, the entry price, surrounding development, and the property’s long-term prospects.

So for me, the real question is not “Which is the best district in Istanbul?” but “Which property in Istanbul best serves the objectives of this particular buyer?”

Do not buy the reputation of a district. Choose the right property, in the right micro-location, for the right reason.

Founder & CEO, Palma Realty World

I have lived and worked in Türkiye for more than 20 years and advise international buyers on property purchases for living, investment, and Turkish citizenship. I am a graduate of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University and a certified Sorumlu Emlak Danışmanı — MYK Level 5.