Customer Behaviors on Housing Demand and A Proposal for Policy Makers: A Discussion on Ankara Province Example

Housing investment is a multi-component process due to the importance of the concept of housing for people in addition to the fact that economic approaches influence the processes relating to housing acquisition. Factors such as household size, characteristics of the desired housing, and consumer behaviors constitute a base for future housing needs. Such data can be used as a starting point in determining housing policies and real estate investment decisions. Economic behaviors such as a decision to purchase housing of individuals are also closely related to sciences such as psychology (rationality of consumer preferences), business administration (marketing), and economy (economic indicators). Consumer decisions are integrated ones constituted by the combination of several factors. The decision to purchase and/or demand of consumers for housing that vary in terms of timing is considered to be influenced by a number of factors such as the gross use area of housing, its price, number of rooms, and environmental features and marketing approaches are also determined in this direction. It is emphasized in the related literature that factors influencing the decision to purchase housing include the quality of the neighborhood where housing is situated, location, external appearance, neighbors, security and safety, proximity to shopping centers, proximity to schools, transport facilities, features of roads and streets, and proximity to public transport. With a collective examination of the data collected through face to face interviews and surveys made by those who purchased housing in the Ankara Province within the last year and the data obtained from municipalities and deed registry offices, factors influencing housing purchase decisions and the demand were analyzed. In short, it is observed that housing demand is depended upon many qualitative and quantitative variables and that in addition to macro-monetary indicators, the price, location, and other characteristics affect demand directly. According to the survey results, there is a significant relationship between the household size, gross usable area of housing, household income, and the price of housing and social and environmental variables are also found to be effective in making purchasing decisions.