Real Estate Prices In Iraq

The value of real estate in Iraq has been witnessing a real soar in the upward direction due to two main reasons. First, there is a very limited amount of residential complexes that are good enough to live in and second, that the law and order is improving thus bringing a slow increase in the living standards of the people of the country thus increasing the costs. This trend is not going to see a slowdown as more and more people who had been dislodged from their houses are now returning with the hope of re inhabiting the same places from which they had to flee earlier.

It is estimated that the number of people who are expected to return to the capital would range in hundreds of thousands. This is something that the government of the country was not prepared for and hence the shortage of housing areas. The private players from all across the world are now being roped in to invest and build these necessary real estate properties in order to provide the citizens with what is required.

As the demand rises and the government battles with the selection process, the prices have almost doubled since 2006. The plot which was for $1000 is now priced at $2000 per sq. feet. As democracy returns and the normalcy returns with lesser and lesser security breaches and terror concerns, the owners and the brokers of various properties see this as a good opportunity to make the most of the situation. This comes in accordance to pure economics where the prices are sky rocketing in proportion to the increasing demand and decreasing availability.

This trend is not limited to the ownership of the houses alone. Even in the to-let sector wherein the people rent out their houses to anyone who is willing to compensate with money, the prices have increased. Various regions in the capital have witnessed a increase of more than 200% in the costs of apartments and flats. It would not come as a surprise that given the current situation, the prices have risen also in the times when the whole world was caught in the ugliness of the recession.

One may think that is would be impossible for the people returning to buy a house when the prices are soaring so high. This is wrong. Majority of the people who are not returning to the city have been able to establish themselves well in the other parts of the world and are now respected workers in various agencies. Also included in the buying class are the engineers and the managers who are coming in to get the various projects started and are responsible for their upkeep.

Because of the high demand, the various real estate agencies have been given the task of building thousands of houses which would then be allotted to the refugees who are living in the slums due to un-affordability. More than 50% of the population belongs to this kind of category. On an average, approximately two hundred thousand homes need to be built to achieve the targets by 2015.