Turkish real estate companies have sold residential properties worth over TL 100 million ($14.3 million) online to foreign buyers in March, said Faruk Akbal, the chairman of the Real Estate International Promotion Association (GİGDER), which represents Turkey’s leading real estate brands.

Real estate sales to foreigners have gone online due to the coronavirus outbreak, Akbal told Anadolu Agency (AA) Tuesday, adding that they moved the attention of foreigners who could not travel to Turkey to online platforms such as Facetime, Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp.

"By using the innovative perspective, technological possibilities and the momentum our country has achieved in health care, we have created an international demand which has turned into pre-sales and reservations with digital tools," he said, noting that the members realized the sales and reservations of 120 properties through online platforms in March, generating an income exceeding TL 100 million.

Akbal said it also shows that good things are happening in the market and that both Turkey and Turkish companies keep up with changing trends.

Overall residential property sales in Turkey surged by 33% in the January-March period and hit 341,038, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Sales to foreigners jumped by 13.8% year-on-year in the said period, reaching 10,948, the data showed.

Nearly 1.35 million housing units were sold in the country in 2019, while up to 45,500 houses were bought by foreigners, seeing a 14.7% increase compared to the previous year.

Akbal further explained that from the moment the epidemic started, virtual tours were held for foreign customers with VR glasses and online tools to maintain sales.

Akbal said that the trend they caught in March was, in fact, the harbinger of the future and that after the coronavirus outbreak, a major transformation occurred in the marketing, sales and management processes in the real estate sector.

"With Proptech, the industry is rapidly changing in many areas such as virtual and augmented reality technologies, automation, CRM services, digital-oriented advertisement and announcement services, crowdfunding, blockchain and adviser scores," Akbal said, stressing that some regulations are required for the development of these systems.

"Besides, we need various functions such as the real estate enterprises that have a certificate of authorization to initiate transactions, especially the application of transactions regarding foreigners," he concluded.