Baghdad Real Estate

[nawaralsaadi]

Hey guys,

This is my first posting here, sorry if this is not the right forum to post issues in relation to real estate, I have a 1004 square meters real estate in a high class area in Baghdad that I am interested in selling, does anyone here work in the real estate business or looking for a property to purchase in Baghdad?, PM me

Best regards and congrates on a quality forum,
Nawar Alsaadi

[fms]

How much are you asking? Do you have pictures?

[nawaralsaadi]

I am looking at $800 per square meter, I do have a couple of pictures that I can email you if you wish, but they are of low quality, it is best for someone to inspect the proprety in person.

regards,
Nawar

[SEABEE CAN-DO]

800 dinar?

[nawaralsaadi]

$800 USD, 800 dinar would price the whole proprety for 500 dollars!.

[psychojerm]

and 800 dollars would put this property at over 800 thousand. what area is this in? 800 dollars a square meter is outrageous for property in baghdad.

[nawaralsaadi]

Price per square meter in medium to high class areas in Baghdad range from $400 to $1400 per square meter, I already got an offer at $690. The area is Al qadysia near the Tigris river.

[LakewayDaze!]

I don't imagine you will get a lot of the people in this forum to drop by for a look at that....:))

[Tyreds Tale]

you put this thread in the correct place: the business forum. I will PM you a contact that might be interested.

Keep us updated on if you sell, Im curious about the real estate markets in Iraq...

[lance]

Hey guys,

This is my first posting here, sorry if this is not the right forum to post issues in relation to real estate, I have a 1004 square meters real estate in a high class area in Baghdad that I am interested in selling, does anyone here work in the real estate business or looking for a property to purchase in Baghdad?, PM me

Best regards and congrates on a quality forum,
Nawar Alsaadi
Thanks for posting your property on the forum, inshaalah it will sell soon. Lance

[nawaralsaadi]

Many thanks guys for the feedback, by all means even if I don’t get offers through this board there is no harm in spreading the word : ).

For those who are interested in Baghdad real estate market, through my research on the topic the last few months since I decided to sale my property, here are some points that maybe of interest:

- Real estate prices in Baghdad has increased as much as 10 folds since the fall of Baghdad, an extreme rise happened in the weeks just after the fall, this is a period where looted money was used to buy real estate (such a case of a half a million dollar paid in cash! For a house), and also a number of Arabs and foreigners went into Baghdad to buy real estate, however the law was vague at the time, and many lost money because foreigners were banned from owning real estate in Iraq beyond a long term lease of 40 years.
- Prices stagnated in late 2003 and 2004 as the Iraq dipped into more and more violence and prices declined by 20% to 30%.
- After the elections in January 2005, prices started to move up again, as people gained confidence in the government and people were generally optimistic, what is surprising however is that prices did not go down in the April/May violence escalation in Baghdad.

Reasons for increased prices for real estate in Baghdad today are as follows in my opinion:

- Speculation: Many investors are betting that once the situation in Baghdad clam down, prices per meter will sky rocket, such as the case in Irbil in the North where commercial real estate prices vary from $1000 to $5000 dollars per square meter (source Alhyat news paper).
- Expensive construction: prices of construction material and labor has increased multiple folds since the fall of Baghdad, due to the various rebuilding projects taking place.
- Law: The law has changed allowing all Iraqis to own real estate in Baghdad, during Saddam time only people who were born in Baghdad or moved to Baghdad in 1957 could buy real estate in Baghdad.
- Lack of housing: Iraq and Baghdad have a severe housing crisis and it is estimated that Iraq needs 1.5 million new housing units to cover the demand.

Current state of the market:

- Price per meter is $150 to $300 in the poor areas, and as high as $1400 per meter in the expensive areas such as Princess street in Al mansour, and they are as high as they ever got since May 2003.
- The market is very volatile and prices can move 20% + in either direction depending on political developments.


Restrictions and legalities:

- Real estate sales tax is fixed at 2%.
- Foreigners can get a long term lease of up to 40 years.
- Funds to buy or sale can be wired in and out of the country with many new private banks, commissions range from half a percent to 1 percent.
- Average real estate agent fees is 2-3%.
- Average legal fees can vary from a fixed amount to 3%.
- A sales/purchase transaction can take place with through a legal representative in Iraq without the need of physically being there.

Site where can learn about available real estate in Baghdad:
http://www.viviun.com/Real_Estate/Iraq/

I hope that above is of use to whom interested in the Iraq real estate market

Best regards,
Nawar

[Chaka]

nawaralsaadi,
few questions for you
1) In the US if you own land, you also own the air rights over your land as well as any resource rights under your land, ie: oil, minerals etc- Has this been discussed in Iraq?
Aviation overrides the air rights

2) Foreigners are not able to buy land individually, but can a legally registered company in Iraq wholly or co-owned by foreigners own land?

An excellent example of this is the ISX-- not directly open to foreigners, however there are CURRENT ways a foreigner can purchase stock at this time,
2 of the ways I mentioned above-
a) wholly owned US company registered with Minstry of Trade
b) Joint company with Iraqi Citizen as a partner aslo registeres with MOT

I would like to provide specific link or article pertaining to the question if there is one
thank you

[nawaralsaadi]

Hello there,

I just need to highlight that I am not an expert on the Iraq real estate market, most of what I know, I have learned in the process of trying to sell my property, as well as because I am Iraqi.

Now to answer your questions:

- I am quite certain that owning real state in Iraq does not give you the right for the minerals and air space, at least this has been the situation under Saddam Hussein government and I am not aware this has changed.
- In regards to foreigners buying real estate through a joined company, I am unable to comment on this, since I don’t have enough information, however if you search on the internet you can find links to emails or Iraqi lawyers that you can ask, such links can be found on places such as the http://www.iraqdirectory.com/en/ and http://www.baghdadbazaar.com/

Best regards,
Nawar