The western suburbs of Istanbul are set to be more in demand from both property investors and locals as Istanbul's largest airport is given the green light in a nighbouring district.

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim has given his final decision to begin construction with an investment of $5 billion U.S dollars.

It will be located in the Silivri district which is on the very outskirts of the European side of the city. It will place suburbs on the western side of Istanbul, including Beylikduzu and Buyukcekmece, in an important central position between what will then be Istanbul's largest and most important airports - the existing Ataturk Airport and the new Silivri Airport.

Currently, Istanbul is serviced by two airports which are nearing their limits of capacity. Ataturk Airport is currently Istanbul's main modern airport located on the European side of the city. Inaugurated in 2001 it has handled close to 30 million passengers in 2009 and an 8% increase is expected for 2010. That's double the number that travelled through it in 2004. Frieght has also doubled since opening.

On the Asian side of the city the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport services many of the budget airlines including easyJet. It too has seen phenomenal growth in recent years from just 50,000 passengers in 2001 to more than 10 million in 2010 which is a staggering 77% increase on 2009's figures. A large extension was officially opened as recently as October 2009 enabling the airport a capacity of 25 million passengers per year. It has won numerous awards including being voted the World's Best Airport at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London.

However, this still does not meet demand with anticipated passenger numbers expected to continue to rise sharply for the foreseeable future.

So this is yet further good news for those western districts including Büyükçekmece and beylikduzu which borders the Silivri suburb. They are already experiencing a surge of interest from buyers and renters due to favorable living conditions and another important transportation improvement - a new metro-tram link due to be completed in mid-2011.

Istanbul's residential property market is rising due to demand from a housing shortage and which in turn is being further fuelled through the uptake of mortgages by locals for the first time. To take advantage of this surging growth, utilize 70% LTV mortgages and benefit from a 7.5% guaranteed rental return for 2 years minimum; review one of our Istanbul Property Investments and download the Investor Report for further information.