Amid soaring housing costs, İstanbul is packed with vacant, newly-built homes

The Çiftçi Towers in Beşiktaş stand largely vacant. © Wouter Massink (WM)

Three years ago, Kimberley and Mert moved into a small apartment with a garden in İstanbul's Nisbetiye district, a middle-to-upper-class residential neighborhood.

Despite Kimberley's relatively well-paid job of about 30,000 liras per month and Mert's part-time job adding an extra 8,…