REstate Summit, the real estate and investment fair that brings together the real estate sector was organized for the tenth time this year. The summit not only witnessed important conferences but also offered an environment for information sharing. Besides the majority of the corporate actors of the sector, international investors interested in the Turkish market attended the three-day summit where more than 100 speakers, each expert in their respective fields, have shared their views and experiences with the participants. 

Some of the topics that drew PY Team’s attention among those discussed in the panels can be summarized as follows:

HOUSING SECTOR AND FINANCING IN TURKEY
- 15 million out of Turkey’s housing stock have to be renovated and 600,000 new housing units must be built each year.
- While Turkey’s GNP is indicated to be 700 billion USD, housing loans, which was 100 million USD in 2000, reached 30 billion USD in 2010 displaying a 5% ratio to GNP. In case of an economical growth of 4.5% this ratio is estimated to reach 7.5% albeit Turkey has a long way to go to achieve the ratio of 27% of the EU countries. 
- The fact that the ratio of non-performing housing loans is five times less compared to other loans in the banking sector implies that loans in this sector is likely to increase.
- Banking sector in the world and Turkey is anticipated to henceforth involve a more transparent, independently audited structure remote from interaction with derivative financial instruments.
- While the global economical crisis is expected to end in 2011, the 5% economical growth figures are expected to be achieved only after 2012.
- The fact that 80% of Turkey’s export is to EU countries causes decrease in export volume and increase in unemployment, and further points at a fragile structure.
- It is emphasized that projects financed 100% by foreign investment banks and funds in the past years have changed into minimum 30% equity capital as of 2008 and loans are no longer facilitated without the comprehensive feasibility and assessment studies of at least two valuation institutions.
- It is indicated that 3+1 is the most preferred housing unit type in the housing sector. While children are indicated to have the greatest influence on preferences, these young individuals place emphasis on comfort and state-of-the-art technologies. Aspects such as strength, location, price, investor confidence and investment capacity have direct impact on marketing.

NEIGHBORING REGIONS AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
- The increase witnessed in the clientele of hotels, shopping centers and hospitals at border cities with the abolishment of visas points at an increase of investments in both these cities and cross-border countries (with Syria, Iraq and Iran being in the first place).
- The real estate sector is expected to gain acceleration depending on the flexible application of the “Reciprocity” agreement concerning property ownership with neighboring countries.
- New investment opportunities worth a total of 230 billion USD in Abu Dhabi (Yas, Reem and Saadiyat islands) are fascinating.
- Increase of competition parallel to the overseas expansion of Turkish brands that have emerged in the lodging industry and acceleration in the penetration of foreign chain brands into the Turkey market particularly, hence sharing of knowledge and experience are indicated to be a gain for the sector.

NEW TRENDS IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT
- Considering that 65 million people across the world migrate to urban areas every year and 70% of the world population is forecast to start living in cities by 2050, it is anticipated that new ecological and smart cities that do not exhaust nature and sources, that involve minimum carbon emission and utilize fully renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass, and others) will be developed.
- The importance of high-rises are indicated to widely prevail in the future in that such buildings are designed to generate their own power and with a creative approach that offers a natural environment at such high altitudes.
- Concepts such as CittaSlow, Eco-Cities, Renewable Energy and Green Buildings come forth in new urban development projects.
- Substantial restructuring is needed in the real estate sector in connection with the fact that 50% of the carbon emission in the world is generated by buildings. The fact that the total energy-saving investment of one billion US Dollars made in the Empire State Building in the US has paid off in almost 4 years demonstrates the importance of this subject.

FUTURE PROJECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Communities that will be represented by three different colors (Blue, Orange, Green) are indicated to emerge in the near future, with the Blue group comprising focused, creative, high-tech companies at mega-scale; the Orange group comprising internet- and economy-oriented consultancy companies and individual entrepreneurs that concentrate on small and in-depth specialization fields; and the Green group comprising social responsibility organizations that control the developments in the world. This new era is indicated to be designated as the age of Cybernation created by reason-knowledge-emotion and technology.
- Instead of focusing on employment increase, focus on education, technology, innovation and skill enhancement is recommended for the new period.
- Efforts in rendering the value generated in the Consultancy and Services sector measurable, adopting performance-based contracts in place of man/month-based contracts, Benchmarking, Key Performance Index and Energy Conservation Engineering applications are those that attract attention.