Idlib – Samah Alloush

Mohammad al-Sayyed began his search for a house to buy in order to settle in the city of Idlib, northern Syria, after a ten-year asylum in Turkey. However, he was shocked by the increase in real estate prices within the city, as they do not align with his savings accumulated during the years of displacement.

The property prices were shocking to al-Sayyed; they have been rising day by day. He told Enab Baladi that a house offered to him at the beginning of this year (with three rooms and a distribution area) on al-Thalatheen street in the city for $19,000 had recently increased to $26,000 after he decided to purchase, prompting him to retract his decision and continue searching.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, real estate prices in the city of Idlib have increased, while the border areas have witnessed a significant drop in prices and a stagnation in buying and selling, especially after their prices had soared during the war and bombing days compared to properties in cities.

Increase in demand

The expectations of property owners in Idlib have been thwarted. After the regime’s fall, some of them aimed to sell their homes at prices lower than their cost, thinking that the city would witness a large return of displaced people to their towns, thus reducing demand for real estate and lowering its prices compared to before liberation, possibly leading to their losses. However, the opposite occurred.

Mrs. Fatima sold her five-room house at the end of 2024 for $40,000, only for the buyer to resell it at $48,000, leaving her disheartened when she began searching for another home with similar or better specifications at a suitable price, but to no avail.

Factors such as location, floor, area, and number of rooms play a significant role in determining the price of a house, with prices ranging from $9,000 to $100,000 or more, according to Enab Baladi’s tour of real estate office owners to survey prices and specifications.

Architect Fadl Allah Aktah stated to Enab Baladi that prices have gradually increased by up to 25%, and he expects that the rate could reach 40% or more in the upcoming period.

The increase is not limited to the city of Idlib but includes all major cities like Damascus and Aleppo. According to Safwan, a trader owning a real estate office in Idlib, this rise is due to Syrians seeking the safety they lost during the previous regime’s rule. The fear of losing their homes or being bombed or displaced again has diminished, especially since the former regime had heightened its media war before its fall, misleading residents from northern Syria into believing it was preparing to reclaim those areas.

The trader added to Enab Baladi that there has been an increased demand for purchasing real estate in Idlib, both from local residents and expatriates wishing to secure their future in Syria, ensuring they will have shelter upon their return.

Some Syrians living in European countries are looking forward to returning and settling in Syria, including Ali, who comes from southern Idlib countryside and lives in Germany. He decided to buy a house in the city of Idlib.

According to the young man, after much consideration, he wondered why he should go through the trouble of rebuilding his destroyed home and starting from scratch, incurring expenses and costs, and managing workers. Therefore, he preferred to buy a ready house in the city, as it has more services compared to his recently liberated town, which lacks basic services such as water, electricity, health centers, education, and more.

The rise in construction material prices and labor costs has also significantly contributed to the increase in real estate prices in Idlib, with the percentage of rising material costs reaching nearly 25%, according to construction contractor Engineer Kamal al-Din Shawi.

Stagnation in rural and border area real estate

Thair Abbas, a former displaced person from the Damascus countryside, who used to work as a data entry clerk for an organization in the border area with Turkey, bought a piece of land and built a house costing around $9,000.

His contract with the organization ended, and his best option was to sell his property and return to his hometown. However, after three months of offering it through real estate offices, he could not sell it for more than $5,000.

According to Enab Baladi‘s observation, the border areas in northern Idlib, which were a refuge for displaced people as well as a destination for building temporary rooms and houses, saw a drop in property prices of up to 70% in some areas.

Architect Fadl Allah Aktah confirmed to Enab Baladi that property prices in Idlib’s countryside had fallen for several reasons; after the liberation of Syria and the cessation of the bombing that had caused residents to flee to initially safe border areas like Atma, Deir Hassan, and Salqin, there was no longer a reason for them to remain there, which strengthened their desire to return to their original towns.

Aktah added that the cessation of humanitarian organizations’ operations in rural areas, and their halting of support for service projects that had provided nearly permanent job opportunities for local residents, was among the main reasons for residents leaving these areas, leading them to wish to sell their properties despite incurring losses.

House prices and rental rates in the region are primarily linked to the laws of supply and demand, without considering the financial situation of citizens, and without any regulations currently in place to protect them, contributing to homeowners exploiting residents’ needs and raising rents.

Properties have become more abundant after it was once a crisis to find housing in the city of Idlib, which has turned into a refuge for the displaced and deported from various cities and towns across Syria.