KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In a town that has gone through everything and is going backwards, a man named Omidullah wants to hit the paycheck.
A Kabul real estate agent is selling a nine-bedroom, nine-bathroom, white-and-gold villa in the Afghan capital. On the roof, bright Arabic writing tempts buyers and brokers with the word “mashallah” – “God willing.”
The villa is listed at $450,000, a staggering figure in a country where more than half of the population relies on humanitarian aid to survive, most Afghans do not have bank accounts, and loans are rare. However the offers are coming.
“It’s a myth that Afghans don’t have money,” Omidullah said. “We have big businessmen who have big businesses abroad. There are houses here worth millions of dollars.”
In Kabul, a curious thing is happening to crack the high-end real estate market. Peace, it seems, is driving up commodity prices.
Many are coming home
People who have spent years living and working abroad are returning home, wanting to take advantage of the country’s improved security and stability after decades of war, destruction and crumbling infrastructure. They include Afghans who are fleeing deportation campaigns in Iran and Pakistan who are taking their money.
Mortgages are not available because banks do not have the money to lend. Afghans buy with cash or use a “geerawi option” – when someone gives a fixed amount of money to a landlord in return for living on his property and stays there until the landlord pays the money back.
People were afraid to invest in Kabul before the Taliban takeover, according to one real estate agent, Ghulam Mohammed Haqdoost. But the country’s regulators have created a better environment for the property market in more ways than one.
The city has been relatively quiet since the Taliban transitioned from insurgency to authoritarianism and foreign forces have left, although armored vehicles, checkpoints and military units are still visible.
The Taliban, who advocate a strict regime, have promised to stamp out corruption and control legal and commercial issues. That means that there is no more dealing with military officers or giving bribes to local officials for buying land or building projects.
Haqdoost is happy to make things easier and faster under the new regime.
“House prices have gone up by about 40%,” he said. “In the last three years, we have sold about 400 properties. It wasn’t like that before.”
For builders, times are good
Business is good for Haqdoost, who employs 200 people in management, including women who work exclusively with female clients, and another 1,000 in his company’s construction arm.
He said that many customers bring their wives to be seen. This is because women are the ones who call the shots when it comes to buying real estate — even in countries where critics oppress and disempower women. “The power and authority of the house is in the hands of women,” said Haqdoost, “They decide to buy the house or not.”
Omidullah and Haqdoost said their clients want a garden, gym, sauna, swimming pool, guest rooms and a single kitchen. Hospitality is a big part of Afghan culture and this tradition is rooted in homes. Afghans tend to stay and host visiting friends or family in their homes, not in hotels or restaurants.
Haqdoost’s client base is mainly overseas, and their international interests are influencing them. They want new things like dining tables and beds. In Afghanistan, it is common for people to sleep and eat on the floor. It is the diaspora who are looking for purpose-built apartment blocks that offer amenities such as central heating, double-pane windows and elevators.
To make the city more attractive and livable, the municipal authority is busy constructing and repairing roads, installing street lights, planting trees and removing garbage. It is also developing programs to promote affordable housing and encourage homeownership.
It is necessary. The population of Kabul was around 500,000 at the beginning of the millennium. Now it is more than five million. Some neighborhoods remain crowded and noisy as a result, despite the council’s best efforts.
An oasis outside the Afghan capital?
Those who can afford it head outside the city. There, on the edge of the Qargha Reservoir, sit some of Kabul’s most luxurious and expensive homes.
One is like a decorated mosque. One evokes the building of a Bond villain with its complex design and emerging from the hills. The locals say it belongs to a rich Turkish man who comes and goes. They don’t say his name.
This cluster of gardens is decorated with decorative terraces that look out over the lake, one of the capital’s most-loved spots. Since the Taliban came to power, it is mostly a male-only place. The women stop to spend time with their families, but they don’t linger because the officials of the Vice and Virtue Ministry work at one of the places around the water.
Arash Asad is trying to sell his grandfather’s property, which sits on four square kilometers (43,000 square meters) of land. It has an unobstructed view across the lake and to the Paghman mountains below the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Asking price: $800,000.
There are buildings on one side and a residential area in the middle of the area covered by a bright blue sky. The area is often lined with cherry blossoms and cherry trees. There are some cranes. Birds are included.
“Gardens are very important to Afghans,” Asad said. “Many of them come from villages. When they move to cities, they want to have that memory of the past because it remains in them.” Inside the living room with glass walls sits his grandfather looking out over the water.
Asad’s family would prefer the property to be commercialized rather than sold. But the real estate broker fields many calls and messages during a 30-minute drive from the center of Kabul. Pictures of the place on social media have sparked a lot of interest.
“People think this country has no jobs and no economy,” Asad said. Outside the car, the sun sets over the lake and cars full of men head for the beach. “But Afghans have made their money, illegally or legally, over the years. You wouldn’t believe it.”
