Shafaq News/ Everymonth, Umm Ahmed sets aside nearly half her salary to keep a small two-roomapartment in Baghdad’s Al-Zaafaraniya district. The 43-year-old widow works sixdays a week at a tailor’s shop but says rent increases have pushed her family tothe brink. “We can’t move, and we can’t afford to stay,” she said. “We’restuck.”
Across Iraq,families like hers are being squeezed by an unregulated housing market,stagnant incomes, and rapid urbanization that has left supply far behinddemand. Although the right to housing is protected by law, economists say thereality on the ground tells a different story.
Iraq’s populationreached 45.4 million in November 2024, according to its first national censusin more than three decades. The share of residents living in cities has climbedto 70.17%, and 84.57% in the Kurdistan Region, straining housing availability inurban centers.
Baghdad remainsthe costliest city in the country. The Basmaya complex east of the capital isone example, where the official price per square meter is $600, but units arefrequently resold at far higher prices through private brokers; a100-square-meter apartment can cost between $136,000 and $340,000, depending onlocation and amenities.
Despite thesefigures, the Ministry of Planning reports that 72.15% of Iraqi families owntheir homes - a number economists have questioned.
“If 72% of peopletruly owned homes, it would mean 33 million citizens have housing. That wouldindicate there is no crisis, which is simply not true,” said economist Duraidal-Ani, pointing out that internal migration has driven up demand in citieslike Baghdad.
“Four years ago,Muthanna Province had the lowest rents in Iraq. Today, it’s unaffordablebecause families from the south moved there to escape higher costs elsewhere,”he said.
Real estate expertAbdul-Salam Hussein said successive governments had failed to protect thoselow-income Iraqis, despite constitutional guarantees. “The private sector wasempowered without oversight,” he said. “Well-connected buyers acquired largenumbers of properties, inflated prices, and used the market to conceal illicitwealth.”
Price regulation,where it exists, is rarely enforced. Nabil al-Saffar, spokesperson for theMinistry of Housing and Reconstruction, said efforts to cap prices have hadlimited impact because of persistent shortages, pointing again to the Basmayaproject. “Even when limits are in place, units are resold through privatechannels at higher rates,” he said. “This is not just about pricing—it’s asupply issue.”
To ease thepressure, the government plans to expand housing availability. Under the RealEstate Developer Project, serviced plots will be distributed to 21 socialgroups, including families of fallen soldiers, welfare recipients, widows,divorcees, union members, and non-government workers across Baghdad and theprovinces.
While a modesthome in the capital now costs well over $100,000, Iraq’s per capita GDP remainsbelow $6,000—a gap economists say highlights the growing disconnect betweenearnings and housing access.
Now, for millionsof Iraqis, owning a home is no longer an expectation but an unattainabledream—one where shelter is not a right enshrined in law, but a privilegedictated by market forces and political inaction.