Down payments required of the applicants under the Housing Savings Account initiative brought the bank 66.524 trillion rials ($1.58 billion) by May 21, which marked the end of the second Iranian month, exceeding the bank’s target by 189%.
According to Bank Maskan’s website, 95,021 out of a total of 326,139 accounts were opened by customers in the capital Tehran, who deposited 26.598 trillion rials ($633 million) in down payment.
HSA is aimed at lending support to first-time homebuyers by offering facilities at low interest rates in return for an initial deposit held by the bank for at least a year, Financial Tribune reported.
Individuals will be eligible for loans valued at 800 million rials ($19,050) in Tehran, 600 million rials ($14,285) in urban areas other than Tehran and 400 million rials ($9,523) in towns with a population of less than 200,000 people. Couples will be able to receive double those amounts.
HSA provisions have been amended on several occasions to offset the impact of rising inflation in the housing market.
Those adjustments included cutting the loan interest rates for homes located in distressed and non-distressed urban areas from 8% and 9.5% to 6% and 8% respectively.