Iraq Real Estate Market Heats up.

[lasagnabro]

"Under Saddam Hussein's regime, few foreigners were able or willing to invest in Iraqi real estate, and citizens were eager to sell properties at any reasonable price. Now, more than a year after Saddam's ouster, Abbas concedes he's seeing a bit of a real estate bubble. Prices in some neighborhoods have gone up 500 percent since last summer. Foreign companies and Iraqi citizens who fled the country under Saddam's regime are eagerly eyeing land and buildings in central locales. 'Everyone's got this idea in their head that despite the craziness, the properties in the prime locations in Iraq are worth a lot to foreign businesses,' said Abbas. 'You can say to someone that there's so much instability and violence in their area. They say, 'So what, it's going to calm down'.'" It's called a healthy optimism, I think.

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64693,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

[tazish]

How much per acre for oceanfront property in Iraq?

[Psycho for Dinar]

Great post! With the price of property climbing 500% gives a little more hope to an esculated rate for the Dinar. There was a one liner in there though that "may" just influence future buyers...Maybe!

"Other inconveniences -- such as stray gunfire, kidnappings and roadside bombings "

I suppose every neighborhood has it's own problems though...I could just be a lil' touchy! :D

[FAST1]

How much per acre for oceanfront property in Iraq?

Yeah, how much? I want to build terminal for crude! :huge:

[Tyreds Tale]

Home sales stall amid continuing violence
Posted 4/27/2006 By Kimberly Johnson, USA Today

BAGHDAD — Iraq's housing market, which saw property values soar after the fall of Saddam Hussein, is no longer red-hot. Prices remain high, but there is little activity, real estate agents say.
The ousting of the dictator three years ago opened up markets, creating a "sudden consumer revolution," and sent housing prices skyrocketing as much as 700%, Baghdad real estate agent Raad Sahar said. Read more

Since then, violence has taken its toll. "Home sales now are almost motionless," he said. Iraqis leaving the country want to unload property quickly but have difficulty finding a buyer.

Baghdad engineer Mustafa al-Mosawi, 31, said that four months ago, buying a house seemed a wise financial investment for his family. Within three weeks of launching his search, he had found a house for $300,000 in the city's upscale Mansour neighborhood, considered one of the city's safest areas.

The Mansour house would have cost about $100,000 before 2003, Mosawi estimates. He bought the house but now has decided to leave the country and will try to rent it out.
...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-04-27-home-sales-iaq_x.htm