Effect of Syrian refugees on housing rents in the southeast of Turkey

Syrians fleeing from the civil war in their county to Turkey have started to live mostly in the southern provinces which are close to the border such as Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Şanlıurfa, Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay and Mersin. This situation has both caused an excessive increase in the housing rents in these provinces and made it difficult to find a house for rent. In this study, the effects of Syrian refugees living outside the sheltering camps in Turkey and settling in city centres close to the border on the price increase in the rent in the region were examined. For this purpose, the number of annual housing sales, rental prices, rental increase rates and Turkish Statistical Institute data like consumer price index and the number of Syrian refugees living outside the sheltering camps between 2008 and 2018 were compared. A significant relationship was found between the rental increase rates in the region and the number of Syrian refugees.