ISTANBUL, April 15 Reuters Turkish house sales rose 20.6 in March on the year to 134,170 houses, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Friday.

Sales to foreigners rose 31, the institute said, with Iranian citizens topping the list. Iraqis and Russians were the next biggest buyers of Turkish properties, it added.

Wealthy Russians are pouring money into real estate in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, seeking a financial haven in the wake of Moscow39;s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions, many property companies say.

The data also showed March mortgaged sales rose 38.8 from a year earlier to 30,271, accounting for 22.6 of the total sales in the period.

Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan and Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Source Reuters