CBRT September 2026 Rate Decision: Policy Rate Held at 37%, What It Means for Mortgages

Few headlines are followed as closely by prospective buyers as the central bank's interest rate decision. At its meeting on 10 September 2026, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT, or TCMB in Turkish) kept the policy rate at 37 per cent. This article sticks to what the CBRT itself published in its decision statement and the meeting summary that followed, and explains calmly how that information can be read from a mortgage-market point of view.

The 10 September 2026 decision: what was announced?

According to CBRT press release No. 2026-38 dated 10 September 2026, the Committee left the one-week repo auction rate, the policy rate, unchanged at 37 per cent. The two ends of the corridor did not move either:

• Policy rate (one-week repo auction rate): 37 per cent
• Overnight lending rate: 40 per cent
• Overnight borrowing rate: 35.5 per cent

So the short answer to "what changed?" is that interest rates did not change. The useful information sits in the reasoning of the statement and in the data in the summary published a week later.

How did the Committee explain its decision?

The statement highlighted the following points:

• Recent inflation data and leading indicators suggest that the underlying trend has declined, and weak domestic demand supports that reading.
• High energy prices linked to geopolitical developments were described as an upside risk to the inflation outlook.
• The Committee said it keeps a cautious stance against upside risks and repeated that policy would be tightened if there were a clear and lasting deterioration in the inflation outlook.
• Decisions are taken meeting by meeting with a focus on the inflation outlook, and the medium-term target is 5 per cent inflation.

None of this is a promise of a cut or a hike. The text says that policy will be set from one meeting to the next, depending on the data.

The meeting summary: inflation and expectations

The Summary of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting (2026-42), published by the CBRT on 17 September 2026, gives more detail on the data behind the decision:

• Annual consumer inflation fell by 0.24 points to 31.51 per cent in August 2026, and the monthly increase was 1.84 per cent.
• The summary puts annual goods inflation at around 26 per cent and services inflation at around 40 per cent; services prices remain sticky.
• Households' 12-month-ahead inflation expectations rose by 0.6 points to 45.6 per cent. The CBRT names expectations and pricing behaviour as a risk to disinflation.
• The Committee writes that the tight monetary stance will be maintained until price stability is achieved.

Nothing here gives strong grounds to expect mortgage rates to fall quickly, but that is our own reading, not a CBRT forecast. The picture can change at future meetings.

What the summary shows about the housing loan market

The same summary contains two details on credit:

• The four-week average growth of individual loans slowed to about 2 per cent between 24 July and 4 September. According to the summary, the main reason was weaker housing and consumer loans.
• Housing loan rates rose by 55 basis points (a little over half a percentage point) to 41.9 per cent, while vehicle loan rates fell markedly to 37.6 per cent.

With the policy rate at 37 per cent and housing loan rates at 41.9 per cent, banks are clearly pricing risk and maturity into mortgages. These are general figures; the offer you receive will depend on the amount, the term and your own profile.

On prices, the CBRT House Price Index, as reported in the press on 16 September 2026, rose 0.9 per cent month on month and 23 per cent year on year in nominal terms in August 2026, which is a 6.5 per cent fall once inflation is taken out. We do not quote a separate Antalya figure here; for city-level comparisons, please check the tables the CBRT publishes.

TurkStat's July 2026 bulletin had shown mortgaged sales up 23.7 per cent year on year. The details are in our article on TurkStat July 2026 housing sales. Put simply, the share of mortgaged purchases is rising while credit growth has slowed in the same period; the two figures describe different periods and measures, and they do not have to contradict each other.

Photo: Cubus-Simus / CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons (the picture shows the Antalya coastline, not the subject of the article)

Practical takeaways for buyers

A rate decision alone does not tell you to "buy now" or "wait". A sounder approach is to read it together with your own budget:

• Test the instalment against your income. Does the payment you calculated at today's rates still work if your income and expenses change?
• Get written offers. Beyond the rate, compare file fees, insurance, valuation charges and early-repayment terms. Our guide to applying for a home loan in Türkiye walks through the process.
• Factor in the valuation. A bank sets the loan amount according to the appraised value. Our article on the valuation report explains the logic.
• Foreign buyers may face different lending terms; see our guide on whether foreigners can get a mortgage in Türkiye.
• First-time buyers may find our guide to compact flats, loan eligibility and budget planning useful.
• If you would like to look at developer payment plans instead of a loan, see our instalment homes page; the buying a home in Antalya page is a good starting point for the overall process.

Where to follow developments

You can read decisions, statements and meeting summaries directly on the Monetary Policy Committee pages of the CBRT website. The statement appears on the day of the meeting and the summary about a week later. Because mortgage rates change from bank to bank and from day to day, the safest course is to ask the banks for current offers before you apply.

Conclusion

On 10 September 2026 the CBRT left the policy rate at 37 per cent, and the meeting summary points to still-high services inflation, household expectations at 45.6 per cent and housing loan rates at 41.9 per cent. Before deciding on a purchase, it is safest to weigh these figures against your own budget, the term and the total repayment. You are welcome to write to us with any questions.

Related reading: our post-season Antalya property analysis and the October 2026 rent increase ceiling.

This content is for general information only and is not legal or financial advice. Please consult a specialist before making your decision.

Sources: CBRT press release 2026-38 (10 September 2026) and Summary of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting 2026-42 (17 September 2026); CBRT House Price Index (16 September 2026).

Cover photo: Sadrettin / CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons (a bank branch in Babaeski, Kırklareli; used as a general illustration).