“A majority of empty homes are located on Tehran’s outskirts while homes belonging to Mehr Housing Scheme with no occupants account for a big share of vacant homes in Tehran Province,” Hesam Oqbaei also told Fars News Agency. He noted that building permits witnessed a 47% and 17% decline two years ago and in the spring of last year respectively, so there has been no increase in construction and the jump in empty homes cannot be ascribed to overconstruction. “Tehran’s empty homes are mostly luxury units so the reason for their vacancy is the erosion in people’s purchasing power,” he said. Oqbaei noted that if the government and the parliament had reformed banking and monetary policies last year, the housing industry would have definitely witnessed a boom, Financial Tribune reported.
EghtesadOnline: The number for empty residential units in Tehran is not accurate, the head of Tehran Association of Realtors said.