Real-Estate Companies in Kurdistan | List of Top Kurdish Real-Estate
Real-estate sector in Iraq’s Kurdistan is the second most dynamic sector after oil and gas. According to figures from the Kurdistan Investment Board (KIB), since the passage of an investment law in 2006, around $20 billion has been invested in Kurdistan. More than half of that, or $11.1 billion, has gone into the housing sector, the other sources state that 51% of all capital investment in the Region has been in real estate (around $9.8 billion to date).
Empire World (Erbil)
Atconz (Erbil) Zagros Group (Erbil) Salahaddin Holding (Erbil)
Faruk Group (Sulaymaniyah)
Nokan Group (Sulaymaniyah) Ster Group (Erbil) Zozik Group (Erbil) Darin Group (Erbil) Hewa Group (Erbil) Kurdistan Real Estate Development Corporation (KREDCo) (Erbil) Galala Group (Erbil) Kayar Group (Erbil) Ser-Hat Construction Rehab Holding (Erbil) Miran Group (Sulaymaniyah) 77 Group Address Kurdistan Salaei Group Senk Group Burj Al Hayat Khatib & Alami (Lebanon)
Real-Estate Sector Introduction
Real-estate sector in Iraq’s Kurdistan is the second most dynamic sector after oil and gas. According to figures from the Kurdistan Investment Board (KIB), since the passage of an investment law in 2006, around $20 billion has been invested in Kurdistan. More than half of that, or $11.1 billion, has gone into the housing sector, the other sources state that 51% of all capital investment in the Region has been in real estate (around $9.8 billion to date).
Some economists warn that too much money is going into hotels and real estate as opposed to more productive investments – a common concern in newly opened economies in the Middle East, particularly if there are lingering doubts about stability.
In total, around 150,000 housing units have been built by investors over the past six years. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has now started a campaign to build 7,000 low-cost homes that will be given free of interest to low-income citizens living in rental properties. Government agencies, however, do not seem to have reliable figures on the number of tenants in Kurdistan.
The KIB estimates there are around 76,000 families who live in rental properties. But officials at Kurdistan’s Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction say that to resolve the housing problem, 300,000 homes are needed. The current real estate industry in Kurdistan is worth around $10 billion, according to Nechirvan Barzani (2008), Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG).
The price of real-estate: housing, commercial and residential has skyrocketed. Many observers warn about the real-estate bubble. According to the real-estate insiders, the prices in Kurdistan have already incrased by 500% in the past 5 years. Until 2003, the region was considered to be 25 years behind its neighbouring countries. The change within the Iraqi state and government and the fall of the previous government gave an opportunity for the oil money to come in. According to certain figures 70% of the people in Kurdistan are involved in the real estate investment and development.
| Type of investment |
Number of projects |
% by type |
% in capital $ Volume |
|
National |
226 |
86 |
68.7 |
|
Foreign* |
20 |
7.6 |
26.42 |
|
Joint Venture** |
17 |
6.4 |
4.83 |
* Source: Atconz
According to ekurd.com, “the situation regarding rentals is the same.” Although the bubble scenario is likely, we belive that the market will experinece a soft landing. There are 3 principal reasons behind the hypothesis: first, most of the investment into real-estate was cash as a sophisticated banking infrastructure and thus a mortgage system is lacking.
Second, the region is flushed with liquidity, and petro-dollars, Kurdistan recieves $17 billion in annual budget from the Federal Iraq, which is more than combined budgets of Lebanon and Jordan, and 50% of the worlforce is in the public sector. There is plenty of disposable income.
Third, it indicated that demand for housing and real estate in the region is driven by foreign firms, a return of large numbers of Kurdish expatriates, improvements in the region’s aviation infrastructure, and significant economic growth potential and savehaven for other Iraqi Arabs, Syrian Kurds, Turkish Kurds and even Iranian Kurds fleeing for security and seeking prosperity. At the same time, the demographic growth is around 8% for Iraq’s Kurdistan.
The trend for the upcoming years, we belive, is stagnation and slow deflation in some specific niches of the market. Furthermore, as the immediate demand for housing is satisfied the market will start mature and customers will start considering quality, location and other factors.
The sector is dominated by local real-estate, construction and contracting companies followed by Turkish and Lebanese companies.
The companies in the real-estate sector, lack a well defined business model. Instead, a vague business models exist in the market-place today, where many companies are owned often locked in a convoluted, opaque schemes ownership schemes with interests in many fields.
The industry therefore lack purely real-estate developer business model. The downside of the list is the general lack of statistics in the real-estate sector. The list is largely an overview of the main players in the real-estate sector (construction companies, contracting companies, real-estate developers and iconic projects).
Top Real-Estate Companies in Kurdistan | List
Empire World (Erbil)
Empire World stands behind the most iconic project in Erbil and Kurdistan. Headed by a local entrepreneur Peshraw Majid Agha, the project is the best showcase of the new prosperity in Kurdistan.
The project consists of Empire Business Towers and Business Complex, the Residential Wings, Diamond Towers, Marriott Hotel, Pearl Towers, and Royal City which consists of Empire Royal Villas and Empire Royal Apartments. These areas and buildings serve diverse functions as residences, offices, entertainment facilities, and hotels.
Since its establishment in 2007, Empire World has become a leader in the real estate sector in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq due to its total dedication to excellence without compromise. Empire World has undertaken a Project that spans a land area of 750,000m2 and costs over USD 2.4 billion. With a completion date of 2017, Empire World is honored and proud to continue contributing to the grown of and development of the region.
Atconz (Erbil)
Atconz Group continues it’s involvement in a vast range of activities which include: investment, real estate development, the industrial sector, oil & gas, trading, construction contracting, and consultation. The main projects are: the New Azadi project (2009) (- Atconz estimates the total turn-over of this project will lie in 4 phases, culminating in a total project value of USD $550 million), and Business Bay. As the Iraqi market demand stands at 3 million housing units, Atconz forecasts a significant role to be played by Atconz Group in this market for the next 20 years.
Zagros Group (Erbil)
Zagros General Contracting has been in the sector since 1991. The company has worked in governmental projects since the very beginning and then began to work for international organizations. Zagros General Contracting is today considered to be one of the strongest and most reliable construction companies in northern Iraq.
Salahaddin Holding (Erbil)
One of the largest holdings in Iraqi Kurdistan. The holding invests in the following sectors: banking sector, investment sector, hotels, construction sector, oil and gas sector, manufacturing plants (BRC, Prefab, Steel, Cement) and oil and gas stations.
Faruk Group (Sulaymaniyah)
Faruk Group Holding has proudly become a recognized leader in twelve different sectors. As varied as these entities are, all of the companies collectively partner to create a solid infrastructure to rebuild Iraq. Every FGH company adheres to the same principles upon which FGH was originally founded in 2008 – integrity, reliability, humanity, democracy and excellence.
Nokan Group(Sulaymaniyah)
Nokan Group is a prominent group of companies for investment and industry in Kurdistan Region of Iraq that works in many fields such as internal and external trading, large and small industry, engineering, airlines, tourism, oil, commercial agencies, products distribution, information technology, building construction, industry and agricultural products etc.
Construction Companies under Nokan Group are Raz Company, Dargazen Company, Twzhala Company, Razga Company, Qubad Company, Shkofa Company, Reko Company, Chiya Company, Eron Company, and Halabja Company.
Ster Group (Erbil)
Founded in Erbil, Ster Group has emerged as one of Iraq’s fastest growing conglomerates. The group’s core expertise includes construction, environmental engineering, consultancy, insurance, security, power, communication, general trading, tourism, information technology and research. Ster Group also actively invests in a wide-range of real estate projects. The group’s subsidiaries include: Ster Company, StarKar Insurance Company, TarinNet, Ster Petroleum, Ster Security, Kani Water and SterLogic.
Zozik Group (Erbil)
Zozik group is present in the following sectors: agriculture, air & cargo, communication, construction, finance, health care, security & logistics, transportation etc.
Darin Group (Erbil)
A multifaceted group active in diverse porfolio of activities spanning from construction, factories, general trading, project management and telecom. The group is active in retail and commercial real-estate, having constructed the Family Mall (one of the largest in Erbil to date) and Darin hotel.
Hewa Group (Erbil)
Over the years the group of companies diversified and grew into various business activities ranging from Investment projects to real estate developers to constructions & retailing within Erbil and abroad. Hewa Group is a transnational conglomerate with operations and investments spread across Kurdistan, GCC countries & Turkey. Today, the Group encompasses under its activities construction, contracting, commodity trading, retail, residential cities, entertainment parks, hospitals, petroleum product and petrochemical trading, plastic factory etc., in addition to real estate projects. Projects of Hewa Group include Majidi Mall, Majidi Hotel, Chinese Market, Sher Oil Stations, Hawler Land, or Hewa Medical Complex.
Kurdistan Real Estate Development Corporation (KREDCo) (Erbil)
A joint venture between National Real Estate Company of Kuwait (NREC) (see real-estate companies in Kuwait) and Kurdistan Development Corporation (KDC).
Galala Group (Erbil)
One of the principal real estate firms in Kurdistan is the Baghdad-based Galala Group of Companies with offices in region’s capital of Erbil and Amman (Jordan). Its activities are extensive and include the fields of industry, commerce, investment, contracts, project management and project execution.
Kayar Group (Erbil)
The group offers a wide array of architectural, engineering, construction and real estate development services through its national network of specialized companies. Among its major projects is Kayar City, near Duhok.
Miran Group (Sulaymaniyah)
The group is active in the field of commercial & retail real-estate with Sulaymaniyah City mall.
Ser-Hat Construction
Rehab Holding (Erbil)
77 Group
Address Kurdistan
Salaei Group
Senk Group
Burj Al Hayat
List of Foreign Real-Estate Companies in Kurdistan
Khatib & Alami (Lebanon)