This paper investigates the cycle of housing movement preferences in Istanbul by focusing on three basic characteristics of residential areas: (a) The housing prices (b) The life quality (c) The Socio-economic structure of the residents. The aim is to estimate filtering process in Istanbul according to the preferences of the demand side of the housing market. The survey held by Greater Istanbul Municipality in 2005-2006 and the average housing prices will be used as data to explore the correlation among housing prices, life quality and socio-economic structure of the residential areas. The results of the study may assist housing policy makers, academicians, urban planners and property developers as it displays moving and filtering preferences of the housing consumers in a dynamic city.