ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Demand for real estate by displaced Arabs living in Erbil has increased by 20 percent in recent years. According to locals 8 out of every 10 property purchases are made by Arabs.
"The buying and selling of real estate among Arabs [in Erbil] has increased. Those who are rich would like to buy land and houses, especially after the question of independence has risen," among the Kurdish leaders this year, the owner of a real estate office in Erbil told Rudaw.
The Kurdish President Masoud Barzani announced recently that the referendum would go ahead as planned before the end of 2016.
Qahtan, who asked for his second name not to be revealed, is a refugee who has lived in Erbil for two years now. He believes the reason for large demands on real estates by Arabs in Kurdistan is due to the regions stability.
“Arabs would like to buy land and house in the Kurdistan Region given the fact that the rest of Iraq does not enjoy the kind of stability this region has, that is why all Arabs are coming to Kurdistan,” Qahtan said.
Qahtan also noted that "economic conditions here are much better than Baghdad."
According to the constitution anyone who holds Iraqi citizenship can buy and sell real estate in the country’s 19 provinces.
Arabs buying property in Erbil need to get approval from security and administrative departments of the city before they can buy and register properties.
The main goal in allowing Arabs to buy property in Erbil is "to bring in money from outside and make a market in Erbil and the Kurdistan Region," Tahir Abdulla, deputy governor of Erbil, told Rudaw.
On July 16, the Sulaimani Provincial Council also issued a decree saying that real estate and other property could be registered in the names of Iraqi Arabs and other foreign citizens on the condition that they had been vetted by local security.
This move paves the way for the boost of market and economy in the Kurdistan Region after it has been hit hard by the economic crisis that was brought about after Baghdad cut its national budget share early in 2014, which was also followed by a sharp decline in the price of oil and the costly ongoing war against the Islamic State (ISIS).
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