Homeownership in Iraq: A far-fetched dream

Shafaq News/ Every month, Umm Ahmed sets aside nearly half her salary to keep a small two-room apartment in Baghdad’s Al-Zaafaraniya district. The 43-year-old widow works six days a week at a tailor’s shop but says rent increases have pushed her family to the brink. “We can’t move, and we can’t afford to stay,” she said. “We’re stuck.”

Across Iraq, families like hers are being squeezed by an unregulated housing market, stagnant incomes, and rapid urbanization that has left supply far behind demand. Although the right to housing is protected by law, economists say the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Iraq’s population reached 45.4 million in November 2024, according to its first national census in more than three decades. The share of residents living in cities has climbed to 70.17%, and 84.57% in the Kurdistan Region, straining housing availability in urban centers.

Baghdad remains the costliest city in the country. The Basmaya complex east of the capital is one example, where the official price per square meter is $600, but units are frequently resold at far higher prices through private brokers; a 100-square-meter apartment can cost between $136,000 and $340,000, depending on location and amenities.

Despite these figures, the Ministry of Planning reports that 72.15% of Iraqi families own their homes - a number economists have questioned.

“If 72% of people truly owned homes, it would mean 33 million citizens have housing. That would indicate there is no crisis, which is simply not true,” said economist Duraid al-Ani, pointing out that internal migration has driven up demand in cities like Baghdad.

“Four years ago, Muthanna Province had the lowest rents in Iraq. Today, it’s unaffordable because families from the south moved there to escape higher costs elsewhere,” he said.

Real estate expert Abdul-Salam Hussein said successive governments had failed to protect those low-income Iraqis, despite constitutional guarantees. “The private sector was empowered without oversight,” he said. “Well-connected buyers acquired large numbers of properties, inflated prices, and used the market to conceal illicit wealth.”

Price regulation, where it exists, is rarely enforced. Nabil al-Saffar, spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction, said efforts to cap prices have had limited impact because of persistent shortages, pointing again to the Basmaya project. “Even when limits are in place, units are resold through private channels at higher rates,” he said. “This is not just about pricing—it’s a supply issue.”

To ease the pressure, the government plans to expand housing availability. Under the Real Estate Developer Project, serviced plots will be distributed to 21 social groups, including families of fallen soldiers, welfare recipients, widows, divorcees, union members, and non-government workers across Baghdad and the provinces.

While a modest home in the capital now costs well over $100,000, Iraq’s per capita GDP remains below $6,000—a gap economists say highlights the growing disconnect between earnings and housing access.

Now, for millions of Iraqis, owning a home is no longer an expectation but an unattainable dream—one where shelter is not a right enshrined in law, but a privilege dictated by market forces and political inaction.