2,372 factories put up for sale across Turkey; 253 listings in Istanbul, 149 in Bursa

Listings for factories for sale have broken records. According to data compiled by Sözcü, 2,372 production facilities have been put up for sale across Turkey, while in the past 30 days alone, 99 factories in Kocaeli — 45 of them in the Gebze district — have entered the market for sale.

Looking at listings in major industrial centers only, the picture becomes clear: Istanbul 253, Bursa 149, Sakarya 57, Denizli 49, Balıkesir 25. Mustafa Dönmez, a real estate expert cited in the report, emphasized that the crisis has particularly hit small production facilities in the 1,000-2,000 square meter range.

The fund crisis, which is said to have harmed approximately half a million people, is cited as the trigger. Some employers have become unable to cover worker salaries, while others have put their properties up for sale to find cash. Experts agree that following the fund crisis, the number of small facilities for rent and sale will continue to increase, particularly.

A collective list of this scale in Turkey's production geography was also seen during the 2018-2019 currency crisis period; at that time, occupancy rates in Organized Industrial Zones fell to as low as 15 percent in Kocaeli and partially recovered over the following two years. This current wave, however, is intertwined with a loss of confidence in the fund system, so experts believe recovery will take longer.