Five years ago it became possible for foreigners to buy Turkish property . As business booms we look at the options for city slickers and sun-worshippers.

Perfect skies, blue seas, golden beaches - Turkey has got them all, but, for now at least, instead of being overrun with tourists, much of it remains relatively unspoilt, so ideal for holiday-home seekers. Of the 51,044 homes owned by foreigners in Turkey in 2005, some 9,298 (or 18 per cent) are in UK hands, according to Turkish government data, up from just 2,420 in 2003.

There is a variety of property and prices on the Turquoise Coast, the most sought-after area of Turkey where the Mediterranean and Aegean meet. Alanya property experts Jasmin Real Estate say that the most popular locations for British and Irish buyers are Belek and Mahmutlar, with Alanya still very popular with the Dutch and Scandinavian market. "Although Belek and Alanya were fairly unknown to the British and Irish market a few years ago, they are now starting to discover the huge range of property available " says a Jasmin Real Estate spokesman.

Michael Doig of Colliers CRE, a British property consultancy that monitors Turkey's housing market, says: "Like many countries that are becoming the focus of British residential investors, growth is estimated at anywhere from 10 to 40 per cent a year."

Turkey's Muslim conventions don't prevail in resorts, but there are some idiosyncrasies that can catch out foreign buyers. In some areas, for example, it's hard for Britons to buy a car without being full-time residents, and shipping large items to Turkey. is tricky and costly.

But the most significant problem until recently has been the country's volatile economy. This has been a deterrent to property investors, especially as slow progress on reforms have led to faltering talks on Turkey's EU membership.

As recently as 2001, the Turkish economy was associated with soaring inflation, black-market activity and high levels of national debt. Even in 2004, 40 per cent of government spending was on interest payments on debts. But in the last two years, to win support for EU membership, Turkey has changed.

The country has brought inflation down to its lowest level since the mid-1970s, annual growth is now a staggering 9 per cent, and it is setting up systems of land registry to prevent disputes over ownership.

"The transformation has been dramatic. The introduction of a Turkish mortgage system this year will stimulate demand for domestic housing and drive prices up. There's been a liberalisation of foreign property-ownership laws, with new legislation in 2005, and the possibility of EU accession has increased foreign investment," says Alise Crossick of a UK property consultancy.

Given the many agents now marketing to Britons, it is amazing that Turkey only allowed foreigners to buy property in 2001. In five years it has become popular, helped by the fact that all property is freehold and eligible for inheritance by spouses or offspring.

Turkey is already a firm favourite. And, for the moment at least, a competitively priced one.