Financing a Turkish property from Saudi Arabia: why lira financing is rarely worth it, and what works instead

Turkish banks lend in lira

Some Turkish banks offer housing loans to foreigners, including those who do not live in Turkey. This financing is in Turkish lira. Individuals resident in Turkey have been barred from borrowing in foreign currency since 2009, and a dollar or riyal loan from a Turkish bank is not an ordinary consumer product. A non-resident may legally be offered foreign currency financing, and Albaraka Türk announced such a product for foreigners in 2017, but we found no current offer in 2026 aimed explicitly at non-residents.

This is the biggest difference from the euro countries that Gulf buyers sometimes compare Turkey with. In Spain or Portugal you borrow in the currency the property is priced in. In Turkey your financing sits in a currency that is neither your income nor, usually, the currency the price was negotiated in, and that affects both the rate and the risk.

The rate, for orientation only

The Turkish central bank has held its policy rate at 37 percent since cutting it in January 2026, most recently at its meeting of 10 September 2026, with annual inflation in September at 29.7 percent. The next decision is on 22 October 2026; most analysts lean towards a small cut to 36 percent. Housing loans sit above the policy rate: market sources put 2026 rates for foreign buyers at around 40 percent a year, with an own contribution of 30 to 50 percent and terms of 10 to 15 years.

A Gulf buyer might expect the participation banks, which work with murabaha rather than interest, to be a way around this. The structure is different, but the cost is not: in April 2026 Ziraat Katılım advertised 2.69 percent a month, Vakıf Katılım 2.68, Albaraka 2.69, Kuveyt Türk 2.91 and Türkiye Finans 2.96 for 120 months, equivalent to roughly 32 to 36 percent a year, in line with the policy rate. Financing of one million lira costs around 27,000 to 30,000 lira a month at these rates.

Treat these figures as a snapshot of the market, not an offer. What a bank offers depends on your income, your commitments, the property and that bank's policy at the time. But set them against the annual rate of 8.03 to 8.21 percent that Al Rajhi Bank advertised for home financing in the Kingdom in September 2026, and the gap is so wide that the monthly instalment does not add up for most buyers. Anyone who has the own contribution a Turkish bank asks for usually wonders why they would borrow the rest at that price.

Currency risk that no rate shows

You earn in riyals and repay in lira. When the exchange rate moves, the riyal cost of every instalment moves with it, and that continues for the whole term. The lira has a long record of decline: the central bank's indicative selling rate went from 41.84 lira to the dollar on 15 October 2025 to 49.42 a year later, a loss of around 18 percent in twelve months, despite interest above 35 percent throughout. Because the riyal is pegged to the dollar, one riyal bought 11.14 lira and then 13.15 lira on those same two dates.

For someone with a riyal income a weaker lira makes the instalments cheaper, but the direction cannot be predicted: against the high interest rate stands a currency that can also move the other way. The same applies to the property. The price is often discussed in dollars or riyals, while the official value on the deed is in lira. Keep the two apart when you do your sums.

What buyers from Saudi Arabia do in practice

Most Saudis in Turkey pay without Turkish financing. The three routes we see most:

• Savings. Money that is already available. Simple and without financing costs, but it is capital that is no longer liquid.
• Personal financing from your bank in Saudi Arabia. Tawarruq or personal financing, based on your income in the Kingdom and at the Kingdom's rates. Saudi home financing, from Al Rajhi, SNB, Riyad Bank or Alinma, is for a property inside the Kingdom and takes a mortgage over it, and support from the Real Estate Development Fund and the Sakani programme is for property in the Kingdom only. We found no Saudi bank with a product that finances property outside the Kingdom or allows a cash release against your home for this purpose; what remains is personal financing at the bank's discretion, with which you arrive in Turkey as a cash buyer.
• A combination. Savings for the purchase costs and part of the price, personal financing for the rest.

Remember that personal financing in the Kingdom is subject to the cap on the share of your income that may go to repayments and to shorter terms than home financing, so treat its instalment as a fixed riyal commitment whatever the lira does. The risk here sits at home: a commitment in the Kingdom for a property in Turkey deserves its own decision.

Developer payment plans

In new projects developers sometimes offer payment in instalments, and these plans are often marketed to Gulf buyers as "financing without a bank". It can look attractive, but it is not bank financing, the terms vary widely, and the property is often not in your name until the last instalment is paid. Have a Turkish lawyer review the terms, the construction guarantees and the moment ownership passes to you before you pay anything.

Transferring the money

The Kingdom places no restrictions on transferring capital abroad; your bank will ask for the purpose of the transfer and proof of the source of funds, which is the Saudi Central Bank's rules in action, not an obstacle in your way. On the Turkish side the currency must be sold to a Turkish bank, which issues the currency purchase certificate the land registry asks for, and the lira amount on it becomes the declared price. Plan the transfer: on a six-figure sum the bank's spread between its rate and the market rate is often the largest cost after the tapu fee, and splitting the transfer or negotiating the rate with the bank can be worth more than any other saving.

What this means for your plan

Start with the amount you can raise without Turkish financing: savings plus any room for personal financing in the Kingdom. Deduct the purchase costs, including the tapu fee of 4 percent of the declared value. Guides describe it as split equally between buyer and seller, 2 percent each, but in practice the buyer often pays all of it; budget the full 4 percent to be safe, and remember that the declared value may not be lower than the municipal value. What is left is your realistic search range.

Then count the running costs: property tax, insurance, maintenance and possibly the complex's service charges, all in lira and all rising with Turkish inflation. Owning a summer home abroad creates no obligation for you in the Kingdom; letting it creates tax in Turkey, as the letting guide explains.

Questions buyers from Saudi Arabia ask

Further reading

• Buying a summer home in Turkey from Saudi Arabia
• Turkish residence permit and citizenship for Saudis
• Start a personal mortgage scan