A new study by the Vision Foundation for Strategic Studies has found that, despite investments exceeding $34.7 billion in the Kurdistan Region’s real estate sector, a large number of citizens are still unable to own their own homes. The study attributes this problem to the absence of an organized long-term housing finance and mortgage system, which has yet to be established in the Kurdistan Region.

According to the study’s data, 293 residential projects, valued at $34 billion, were licensed in the Kurdistan Region between 2006 and 2025. However, the financial crisis, delayed salary payments, and the declining purchasing power of citizens have slowed the real estate market and prevented it from achieving the necessary level of growth.

The Vision Foundation study, entitled “Establishing a Mortgage System: A Strategic Roadmap for Revitalizing the Housing and Finance Market,” describes the right to housing as a pillar of social cohesion. It traces the roots of the current problem to the absence of a secure legal environment and the paralysis of mortgage-backed lending. As a result, the housing market has moved away from a healthy economic environment toward a potentially dangerous form of market monopolization.

The study also notes that the Kurdistan Region’s public banks have become largely inactive. Meanwhile, private banks are either Iraqi banks or branches of larger banks that seek quick and easy profits. They often provide loans only to selected projects, concentrate lending in one city, or neglect other cities altogether.

To address the housing crisis, improve access to housing finance, and reorganize the sector, the study reached several evidence-based conclusions and presented a range of recommendations. These proposals form an implementation roadmap that can be carried out through three strategic phases over a ten-year period.

Research link:

https://visionfoundationiq.org/detail?id=1665