The fee was equivalent to a thousandth of the value of the property as priced by certified assessors, but could not exceed 500 million rials.
Javad Fallah, an official at the exchange said, “The IME board of directors has decided to do away with listing fees for real estate trade until further notice.”
However, sellers should pay the trading fee after they make a deal with the buyer, he said. Trading fee is equivalent to 5/10,000 of the value of the property and doesn’t exceed 100 million rials paid by both buyer and seller.
Apart from the IME fee, both parties have to pay 18/10,000 of the value of the property to the brokerage company.
“The decision to drop listing fees was made after sellers complained that they have to pay for a deal that may simply not be made,” Falah said, IRNA reported.
Comparing IME fees with those demanded by realtors, he said IME costs are much lower.
Real Estate Bourse
There are plans to set up a specialized exchange for real estate trade. The High Council of Securities and Exchange approved a decision to this effect last month.
It will be the fifth bourse operating in the country after Tehran Stock Exchange, the junior equity market Iran Fara Bourse, Iran Energy Exchange and the IME.
The real estate bourse will seek to address mounting challenges of the housing industry by making the housing market competitive and improve transparency. It is also seen as timely and crucial for regulating and financing the huge real estate market.
The plan comes as home prices, real estate and construction costs have jumped up several hundred percent in the past three decades making it almost impossible to buy a small apartment even in the poor and working districts across the country. Rents too have gone up so high in the past few years that people are moving out of big cities to satellite towns and remote areas.