Shifts in loan demand, changing savings preferences, and a transforming risk outlook have created a new equilibrium in personal finance. According to Hesap.com’s first-half analysis, demand for personal (consumer) loans grew 14.6%, falling short of inflation, while mortgage loan volume trended upward. Gold, typically a safe haven, caused losses for investors in the second quarter, while term deposits became the go-to destination for savings returns.
Geopolitical tensions, uncertainty in trade policy, and diverging monetary policies — all of which intensified across the global economy in the first half of 2026 — brought new equilibriums to financial markets, while also driving new trends in how individuals in Turkey borrow, save, and invest. According to the first-half analysis by Hesap.com, a technology-focused banking products marketplace aimed at helping users make more informed and efficient financial decisions, personal loan growth of 14.6% during the period lagged behind inflation, which stood at 17.76%.
Clear jump in personal loans in June
On a monthly basis, after a slowdown in May caused by the Eid al-Adha holiday, pent-up demand kicked in during June and loan demand accelerated noticeably. The sharpest jump was seen in personal loans, which grew just 0.3% in May before reaching 4.7% in June. Auto loans continued to contract, while credit card spending grew 1.3% in June, bringing first-half growth to 15.2%. Mortgage loans maintained a steady pace of 2.1% growth in both months.
Mortgage loan volume trending upward
Home sales fell 3.1% year-on-year in the January–June period, while mortgage-financed home sales rose 32.2%. As cash sales continued to be weighed down by the pullback in gold prices and returns on deposits, mortgage-financed sales posted strong growth of 72.1% in June, with mortgage-financed sales accounting for a 20% share of total sales.
Mortgage loan volume, which grew 13.6% in the first half of last year — rising from 513.5 billion TRY to 583.2 billion TRY — saw its growth pace increase markedly in the same period of 2026, climbing from 679.2 billion TRY to 800.5 billion TRY, a growth rate of 17.8%.
Term deposits: the star of savings
On the savings side, recent losses in gold shifted attention toward term deposits. After a rapid rise in the first two months of the year, bullion gold posted nominal losses for three consecutive months starting in March. According to Hesap.com’s analysis, while gold’s annual real return still stands 22.7 percentage points above inflation, its upward momentum has clearly broken. During the same months, deposits consistently delivered nominal returns of around 3%. Despite expectations of interest rate cuts, monthly deposit returns did not decline throughout 2026, rising from 2.99% in January to 3.11% in May.
Göçen: “The quality of financial decisions will be determined by accurate comparison”
Özgür Göçen, Deputy General Manager of Hesap.com, commented on the six-month financial data: “The first half of 2026 was a period in which financial decision-making habits were redefined. Shifting interest rate dynamics amid global uncertainty, along with diversification across investment instruments, are pushing consumers toward more planned, data-driven behavior. Going forward, financial advantage will come not merely from having access to the most options, but from being able to analyze those options correctly and choose the most suitable product. This is precisely where the quality of financial decisions will be determined by accurate comparison — and Hesap.com will continue to be one of the most important decision-support points, helping users compare and choose the financial products best suited to their needs.”
