Iran: Housing Inflation Lags Behind Average CPI Rise

EghtesadOnline: The housing sector registered a year-on-year inflation of 23.6% in the final month of the last Iranian year (Feb. 20-March 20) compared with the similar month of last year.

News ID: ۷۴۷۰۱۲

09 April 2019

The Consumer Price Index measured for the “Housing” sector (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) by the Statistical Center of Iran stood at 137.9 in the Iranian month, indicating a 0.6% rise compared with the previous month.

The CPI of the sector in the 12-month period ending March 20 increased by 18.5% compared with last year’s corresponding period, SCI said.

The index for housing registered a year-on-year increase of 24.1% for urban areas and 17.7% for rural areas compared with the similar month of last year, according to Financial Tribune.

SCI put average 12-month inflation of the sector for urban and rural areas at 18.8% and 13.7% respectively.

The overall housing CPI reached 138.5 for urban households and 129.9 for rural households, indicating an increase of 0.5% for urban areas and 0.9% for rural areas compared with the previous month.

Tenancy Inflation

CPI for the “Tenancy” sector stood at 137.8 in the Iranian month ending March 20, indicating a 0.6% rise compared with the previous month. It registered a year-on-year increase of 23.5% compared with the similar month of last year.

The tenancy CPI in the 12-month period ending March 20 increased by 18.5% compared with last year’s corresponding period, the statistical center said.

CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 24% for urban areas and 17.6% for rural areas compared with the similar month of last year.

SCI put urban and rural 12-month inflation for “Tenancy” sector for the month at 18.8% and 13.7% respectively.

The overall CPI of “Tenancy” subgroup reached 138.4 for urban households and 130.1 for rural households, indicating a respective increase of 0.5% and 0.9% compared with the previous month.

Overall Inflation

The overall consumer inflation in Iran, according to the Statistical Center of Iran, registered a year-on-year increase of 47.5% in Esfand compared with the similar month of last year.

The goods and services CPI in the 12-month period ending March 20 increased by 26.9% compared with last year’s corresponding period.

SCI had put the inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month, which ended on Feb. 19 at 23.5%.

The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 164.3 in the month ending March 20, indicating a 3.9% rise compared with the previous month.

SCI put urban and rural 12-month inflation for the month at 26.6% and 28.1% respectively.

The index registered a year-on-year increase of 46.6% for urban areas and 52.7% for rural areas compared with the similar month of last year.

The overall CPI reached 163.3 for urban households and 170.3 for rural households, indicating an increase of 3.8% for urban areas and 4.5% for rural areas compared with the previous month.

Recession

Iran's housing sector has lately faced recession amid a decline in the number of home deals, as prices continue to rise.

The Statistical Center of Iran's latest report shows home and land prices, in addition to rents, increased significantly across urban areas in the country during the third quarter (autumn) of the last fiscal year (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2018).

The average price of each square meter of residential floor area surged by 60.3% in Q3 on a year-on-year basis. When compared with the previous quarter (summer), prices saw a growth of 17.8%.

The minimum price of each square meter of residential floor area across urban areas during this year's Q3 stood at 864,000 rials ($6.3) with a maximum price registered at 513.72 million rials ($3,749). The average price was 26.23 million rials ($191.45).

In terms of the number of deals for residential floor areas, Q3 saw a decline of 11.3% compared with the Q3 of last year. Against Q2 of this year, the number of deals registered a decrease of 29.3%.

SCI put the average dealt floor area at 107 square meters while putting the average age of residential units at 11 years.

The average price of each square meter of land (vacant) or land of a rundown residential property (residential units that are considered old to a degree that only the underlying land is useful for construction) in Iran’s urban areas went up by 79.3% in Q3 compared with last year's corresponding period. Prices increased by 21.6% compared with the Q2.

The minimum price of each square meter of land or land of a rundown property stood at 440,000 rials ($3.21) while the maximum was at 500 million rials ($3,649), bringing the average to 20.97 million rials ($153).

The number of land deals made in Q3 increased by 40% compared with the similar period of last year and decreased by 0.6% when compared with the second quarter of this year.

The average area of each dealt land or land of a rundown property in real estate agencies across urban areas was reportedly 292 square meters.

The Statistical Center of Iran also disclosed figures for monthly home rents plus 3% collateral legally paid to rent one square meter of residential floor area.

It reported that the average rent prices increased by 25.4% during this year's Q3 compared with the Q3 of last year while they grew by 0.9% compared with the second quarter of this year.

The minimum cost of each square meter of residential floor area rented in Iran's urban areas stood at 1,818 rials (1.3 cents) with the maximum being registered at 1.57 million rials ($11.45), bringing the average to 109,123 rials (79.6 cents) per month.

Compared with the third quarter of last year, the number of this year’s Q3 rent deals decreased by 12.8% whereas they fell by 36.7% compared with the second quarter of this year.

SCI reported the average area of total rent deals at 97 square meters and put the average age of rental homes at 13 years.