Overseas buyers can purchase property in Turkey provided it is within an urban area and outside a military zone. This rules out buying in a village or rural location, unless in an area where several villages are grouped together in a defined municipality. All sales have to be cleared by the Land Registry Office, which can take a month or longer. Buying from another overseas owner will be much quicker because the searches have already been done.

What does it cost?

Buyers and sellers each pay a 3 per cent commission to the estate agent, and there is a 1.5 per cent property transfer tax on the declared value of the property. This value is usually less than the purchase price. An annual municipal property tax is 0.1 per cent of the declared value. Newly built properties are exempt from this annual tax for five years.

Financing the purchase

Before you get carried away by Turkey’s property prices, check your bank balance. There is no structured mortgage market and no UK lender will offer loans for Turkish property. Property purchases in Turkey are therefore financed by cash. There may be options for stage payments on some new developments, especially if buying off-plan.

What’s on the market

A three-bedroom villa near the sea in Içmeler, the more upmarket end of busy Marmaris, is available for £82,000 through Kent Property Services, which also has houses in a new development in Beldibi, on the outskirts of Marmaris, where three or four-bedroom houses are about £93,000. Kalkan Estates has property ranging from a one-bedroom villa next to the sea at £15,000 to a furnished four-bedroom villa with a large garden and communal pool for £83,000.

Getting there

Don’t expect £4.99 return flights, because Turkey is not on the low-cost operators’ flight path yet. The cheapest options are the charter flights available from May to late September. To find out what’s available, call a travel company such as Tulip Holidays (020-7734 0484, www.tulipholidays.com ) or Alternative Travel (020-7241 2687, www.alternativeturkey.com ). Turkish Airlines (www.thy.com ) has year-round flights direct from the UK to airports such as Bodrum, Izmir for the Aegean coast, and Dalaman for resorts such as Fethiye, Kalkan and Kas.

Where to find out more

Look for a reputable agent. The property market is not regulated, so be wary of “freelancers” touting for business, particularly in big tourist centres. The Economic Counsellor’s Office at the Turkish Embassy in London has a list of agents with websites, although it does not make recommendations (020-7235 2743). The Homes Overseas exhibition at Olympia, London, on March 7-9 features agents for Turkey (020-7939 9888, www.homesoverseas.co.uk ). The Turkish Tourist Office in London has a good website (www.gototurkey.co.uk , 020-7629 7771).

Agents

Kalkan Estates: 08707 282827, www.kalkanestates.co.uk ;

Kent Property Services: 00 90 252 466 6336, www.relmeds.net/tr/kent ;

Arda Karakaya: 00 90 532 654 4167, email: akarakaya@arti-consulting.com

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers