Three million units needed.. Housing: Iraq will witness a “drop” in real estate prices and good news

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[size=52]Three million units needed.. Housing: Iraq will witness a “drop” in real estate prices and good news for poor families[/size]

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2024-07-08
The housing sector gap in Iraq is estimated at more than two and a half million housing units to meet the need or demand for housing in light of the continuous population increase of more than one million people every year, which has caused prices to rise as a result of the increasing demand with the scarcity of supply in the real estate market, according to the spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi pointed out during his speech that “Baghdad is the most in need compared to the rest of the governorates, because it has the largest population among the governorates, estimated at more than 9 million people, or nearly a quarter of the population of Iraq. Therefore, the need in Baghdad is greater than in others, although all governorates need housing units, but in varying proportions according to the number of their residents.”[/size]
[size=45]He added: “Therefore, the current trend is towards building new residential cities that meet the need for housing units, which will positively impact the housing sector by providing more housing units in the real estate market and thus meet the existing need and demand.”[/size]
[size=45]Strategic solutions[/size]
[size=45]However, the Iraqi Ministry of Construction and Housing estimates that Iraq needs about 3 million housing units to reduce or address the stifling housing crisis in Iraq, “which adds a challenge to the government, but the ministry is working hard to find effective strategic solutions on the ground through a number of axes,” according to the spokesman for the Ministry of Construction, Istibraq Sabah.[/size]
[size=45]Sabah added, “The first axis is the housing loans axis by granting a large number of housing loans to build housing units through the Iraqi Housing Fund, which is considered one of the formations of the Ministry of Construction, and that this formation grants a loan in the amount of 60 million dinars, which is a soft loan for the purpose of building housing units.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “The Housing Department in the Ministry of Construction – which is responsible for implementing residential complexes in Iraq – has 16 projects underway, and a number of these projects will be opened in the coming period. The projects completed by this department fall within the category of low-cost housing, and the housing units completed within these projects are distributed within the categories specified in the National Housing Council.”[/size]
[size=45]As for the most important axis for addressing the housing crisis, “the government is working, through the Ministry of Construction and Housing, on the new residential cities project, and there are two generations of new residential cities. The first generation includes 5 cities (Al-Jawahiri, Ali Al-Wardi, Al-Ghazlani, Dafif Karbala, and Al-Janain), and these cities will support the housing sector with more than 225,000 housing units,” according to Sabah.[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The ministry is also working at the same time on the second generation of new residential cities, with 6 cities (Al-Majar Al-Kabir in Maysan, Al-Warka in Al-Muthanna, Al-Balad in Salah Al-Din, Ur in Dhi Qar, Al-Salam in Najaf, and Al-Mutanabbi in Wasit)."[/size]
[size=45]Sabah confirms that “these cities will provide a large number of sustainable housing units within cities where urban land uses are integrated with an economic basis in these cities. It is also hoped that they will work to draw high population densities from within the centers to these cities, and will also limit the prices of housing units, especially investment complexes where prices have reached exaggerated levels.”[/size]
[size=45]It is likely that “the housing market will witness a decline and a fall in prices once work begins and housing units are distributed through these new residential cities.”[/size]
[size=45]Amendment of the Housing Fund Law[/size]
[size=45]In turn, Mahdia Al-Lami, a member of the Parliamentary Services and Reconstruction Committee, says, “The housing crisis in Iraq is an eternal crisis and radical solutions to this problem are still being studied and implemented. They require time and intervention from the legislative and executive authorities. However, recently, the New Cities Authority was established as one of the formations of the Ministry of Reconstruction and Housing, and it presented comprehensive studies to establish cities outside the borders of the Baghdad Municipality as well as in the rest of the governorates.”[/size]
[size=45]Regarding the prices of residential cities, Al-Lami explains that “Ali Al-Wardi City in Al-Nahrawan is suitable for people with limited and medium incomes. Also, the new Sadr City, which has been designed to build 2,000 housing units, is similar to Bismayah City, which is also suitable for people with limited and medium incomes. The same is the case in the cities that will be built on the outskirts of the governorates.”[/size]
[size=45]She points out that “the Real Estate Bank gives loans to those wishing to buy real estate without interest, except for administrative expenses that are given for the first time only. The Housing Bank also gives loans to citizens wishing to build a plot of land, provided that it is not less than 100 metres.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Lami noted that “the Services Committee is in the process of amending the Cooperative Housing Fund Law, and among the amendments is not requiring the applicant to be 18 years old, and reducing the area to 72 meters instead of 100 meters, so that poor groups can obtain this loan. Among the amendments is also that those who have a job salary do not need a guarantor in exchange for locking up the house to guarantee the funds spent by the government.”[/size]
[size=45]Housing crisis is “fabricated”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the economic expert, Abdul Salam Hassan Hussein, believes that “the housing crisis is fabricated to link departments together, such as the Ministry of Justice, which is specialized in real estate. It is supposed to work in real estate only, but it is branched out in working in prisons, courts, and others. Therefore, this department must be separated to be technically specialized on its own. Real estate is also linked to the Ministry of Finance, represented by the tax, as well as to the Baghdad Municipality and the Municipalities Department. Even the rights of citizens in this field are linked to 5 to 6 ministries, and each ministry takes a percentage of the profits.”[/size]
[size=45]During his speech, Hussein suggested solving the housing crisis by “separating the districts and creating one district that takes a percentage of the fees according to government regulations and disclosure that determines the price of the property. As for investment, it is a disease and a calamity that has no cure by exploiting the investor who controls the fate of the property, and perhaps the state is intentionally creating this crisis to protect investment and corrupt self-financing,” he said.[/size]
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