Tehran Housing Recession Deepens as Prices Rise

Latest data published by CBI on its website indicate that only 6,814 homes were sold in the capital during the period, signaling a year-on-year decrease of 61.7% compared with 17,776 deals of the corresponding month of last year. 

Furthermore, the number of property deals declined by 0.6% compared to the preceding month, Aban.

The average price of each square meter of a residential unit in Tehran stood at about 95.5 million rials ($852) during the ninth month, showing an annual surge of 91.8%. Prices averaged 49.82 million rials ($444) last year, according to Financial Tribune.

Home prices in the capital grew by 4.1% compared to 91.7 million rials ($818) in the eighth month of the current year.

The trend of rising prices, in tandem with the falling number of deals, in Tehran has emerged from the third month of the current year (ended June 21), when prices grew by 45.8% and deals fell by 3.1% on an annual basis respectively. It has only exacerbated in subsequent months.

Details of Property Deals

During the ninth month of the current year, residential units up to five years old grabbed the highest share of the total of 6,814 deals at 43.4%, down by 5.4% compared with the same month of last year.

That lost share was added to units built six to 10 years ago and those between 16 and 20 years, registering a 16.1% and 15.4% share of total deals. 

The share of dealings for homes above 20 years has also improved to reach from 9.8% of the total deals last year to 11.2% this year, but they still had the smallest share of total deals in Azar. Homes that were 11 to 15 years old posted a share of 13.9% of total deals.

The distribution of the dealt properties shows that among Tehran's 22 districts, District 5 once again grabbed the highest share of total deals at 14.3%. It was followed by districts 2 and 4 with respective shares of 9.2% and 8.3%. 

All-in-all, 10 districts (one, two, four, five, seven, eight, 10, 11, 14 and 15)) grabbed the lion's share of the deals at 73% with the remaining 12 districts holding a 27% share.

Among Tehran's 22 districts, the northernmost affluent District 1 again registered the highest average home prices at 218.1 million rials ($1,947) per square meter. This is while District 18 was the capital city's cheapest with average per square meter prices standing at 42 million rials ($375). These figures show a respective increase of 105% and 75% YOY.

CBI figures show that Tehran residents once again favored smaller and cheaper homes, as their purchasing power has significantly dwindled in recent months due to massive price hikes.

Relatively cheap residential units with an average price range of 50 million rials ($446) to 60 million rials ($536) per square meter were the most popular in Tehran during the ninth month, as they grabbed a 9.8% share of all deals. They were followed by units priced at 60 million rials to 70 million rials ($625) and 40 million rials ($357) to 50 million rials ($446) per square meter with a respective share of 9% and 8.9%.

From the total number of deals, 56.7% belonged to homes cheaper than the average per square meter price of the city (95.5 million rials or $852).

Residential units with an area of 50-60 square meters registered the highest number of deals with a 14.8% share of total deals. Units with an area of 60-70 square meters and 70-80 square meters came second and third with a share of 14.5% and 12.3% respectively. Units with an area of less than 80 square meters had a 55.7% share of total deals.

CBI data further show that Tehran's homes worth between 3 billion rials ($26,785) and 4.5 billion rials ($40,178) were the most popular with a 17.2% share of total deals. Homes with price tags of between 1.5 billion rials ($13,392) and 3 billion rials and between 4.5 billion rials and 6 billion rials ($53,571) came next with a respective share of 16.6% and 10.9% of total deals. 

Collectively, residential units valued lower than 6 billion rials had a 47.3% share of total home deals in Tehran during the ninth month of the current year.

Nine-Month Perspective

During the nine months of the current year (March 21-Dec. 21), the number of home deals finalized in Tehran totaled 97,920. That number was 25.6% down compared with the nine months of last year.

In the same period, the average price of each square meter of a home in the capital stood at about 75.3 million rials ($672), signaling a year-on-year surge of 63.9% compared with the nine months of last year.

Tenancy in Urban Areas

The central regulator also reported changes to tenancy prices in the capital and across the country.

According to CBI, the price of rented residential units in Tehran and across all urban areas of Iran increased by 19.2% and 16.2% respectively during the ninth month of the current year when compared to the similar period of last year.