Measurement of city brand power depending on real estate prices

The fact that housing is immovable, has heterogeneous characteristics and that the location is purchased together with the housing suggests that housing can be a significant determinant in the image and evaluation of cities. A review of national and international literature on the evaluation of city brands reveals that city brands are evaluated through surveys and various indicators. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting housing prices in metropolitan cities (physical characteristics of housing), to determine the impact of the neighborhoods where housing is located on prices, and to rank the brand strength of cities. For the purpose of the research, the housing sales data of the neighborhoods in the city center of 23 metropolitan cities in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were taken into consideration. Housing sales data was obtained from Zingat Gayrimenkul Bilgi Sistemleri A.Ş. Hedonic price method was employed to determine the effect of housing characteristics on price. In addition, panel data analysis was applied in the study to investigate the effect of neighborhoods on prices over a certain period of time. In conclusion, it is observed that the housing characteristics affecting the price vary by city. The analysis conducted with the data set generated from the observations in the neighborhoods that have the highest impact on prices in each metropolitan area shows that the number of bathrooms, the usable area of the house, the number of floors in the building where the house is located, the floor on which the house is located, the property type and the age of the building have a significant effect on the price. In addition, based on the analysis of housing values, cities were assessed and the brand strength of cities was attempted to be determined through housing values. In the ranking of metropolitan cities, both sides of Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Antalya rank at the top. In the ranking of the impact of neighborhoods on prices, it is seen that the locations of the metropolitan cities in the first place are in line with the preliminary expectations. In addition, it is thought that the ranking of metropolitan cities based on their housing prices can be used to determine the brand strength of cities.