Houses...

While there are numerous apartment blocks in the city, Kurds much prefer a single family home and that should be as large and as ostentatious as possible! In addition to large families, Kurdish children do not leave home until they are married. The concept of 'going flatting' either alone or with friends is just 'not done' - no matter how old you are, you stay at home until you marry. Even if you move to another city for study or work, you are expected  to live with family no matter how distant. Only as a last resort do you live in a flat.

It is also very common that one of the married children will continue to live with and care for their parents, hence the desire for a huge house to accommodate everyone.

Moreover Kurds do like to show off, so houses are frequently very showy and ornate.

All houses are protected from the street by a substantial wall and open through a gate into a courtyard, no matter how small. Many houses have small gardens or a least a few shade trees or a vine-covered arbor. The ground floor is often heavily protected by grills and solid doors but my guess that this is as a precaution against civil strife as personal crime such as burglary is uncommon here.

 House prices here are high. One of the reasons is that people do not trust banks to be financially sound (and who can blame them) and therefore are very reluctant to keep their money in a bank. So the obvious place to invest is in property which of course, is a favoured investment for New Zealanders as well. Either that or the money is under the mattress.