The Purchasing Managers’ Index for the housing sector in the second month of the current Iranian year (April 21-May 21) settled at 57.14 from 40.5 of the preceding month (March 21-April 20), indicating a 41.09% increase, Iran’s Chamber of Cooperatives reported.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors. It provides information about current business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
“Raw material inventory”, “employment conditions”, “new orders”, “supplier deliveries” and “export/production conditions” were among the criteria surveyed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
If a business scores 50, it means that no change has been perceived compared to the previous month, while scores higher or lower than 50 indicate that the business is booming or stagnating respectively.
The survey includes 12 questions about business conditions and any changes, whether it be improving, no changes or deteriorating.
It is measured through a monthly survey sent to senior executives of 100 companies active in the real-estate sector. It is based on five major survey areas: "new orders" with a coefficient of 30%, "raw material inventory" (10%), "production" (25%), "supplier deliveries" (15%) and "employment" (20%).
The "new orders" sub-index stood at 51.65 in the month ending May 21, indicating a 43.47% growth compared with 36 of the month ending April 20.
The "supplier deliveries" sub-index, which measures how fast deliveries are made, rose by 11.1% from 45.5 in the month ending April 20 to 50.55 in the month ending May 21.
The "raw materials (construction materials) inventory" sub-index improved by 30.4% from 37.5 in the month ending April 20 to 48.9 in the month leading to May 21.
The "employment" sub-index soared by 22.41% from 39.5 in the month ending April 20 to 48.35 in the month ending May 21.
To calculate housing PMI, seven secondary criteria were also surveyed by ICC, including "raw materials purchase prices", which stood at 87.5 in the month ending April 20. The sub-index dropped by 7.06% to stand at 81.32 in the month ending May 21.
"Warehouse inventory" jumped by 8.26% to reach 36.81 in the second Iranian month from 34 in the first month.
The "exports" sub-index settled at 48.9 in the month ending May 21 from 47 in the month ending April 20, registering a 4.04% improvement.
"Prices of products or services" grew 2.09% to stand at 64.83 in the month ending May 21 from 63.5 in the month ending April 20.
"Fuel consumption" surged by 36.41% from 43.5 in the first Iranian month to 59.34 in the second month.
"Sales" climbed 49.85% from 33 in the first month to 49.45 in the second month.
And, the "performance expectations for the following month" sub-index settled at 58.24 in the month ending May 21 from 61.5 in the month ending May 21, showing a 5.3% decline.
The drastic decline in housing PMI in the first month of the year reflected the seasonal slump in the real-estate market at the beginning of the Iranian New Year, which is followed by a fortnight-long holiday and closure of businesses every year.
This is also evident in latest data released by the Central Bank of Iran.
A total of 2,094 homes were sold in the capital city Tehran during the first month of the current fiscal year (March 21-April 20), registering a 60.3% decrease compared with the preceding month but a 68.5% increase compared with the same month of last year.
Data published by the Central Bank of Iran on its website also indicate that the average price of each square meter of a residential property in Tehran stood at 293.22 million rials ($1,220) during the month under review, showing a rise of 91.7% over last year’s same month as average prices reached 152.95 million rials ($637) then. Home prices in the capital city dropped by 3.1% compared to 302.74 million rials ($1,260) in the 12th month of last year.
Latest data published by the Central Bank of Iran show the average price of each square meter of a residential property in Tehran stood at 287.96 million rials ($1,200) in the second month of the current fiscal year (April 21-May 21).
The rate indicates a surge of 69.7% over last year’s same month, as average prices reached 169.72 million rials ($707).
However, home prices in the capital city dropped by 1.8% compared to 293.22 million rials ($1,220) in the first month of the current year.
A total of 3,938 homes were sold in the capital during the month under review, registering an 88.1% increase compared with the preceding month but a 65.2% decrease compared with the same month of last year.
According to the new report, during the first two months of the current Iranian year that started on March 21, the number of home deals finalized in Tehran totaled 6,032, which shows a 51.9% decline year-on-year.
In the same period, the average price of each square meter of a home in the capital stood at 290.59 million rials ($1,21o), signaling a YOY surge of 80.1% compared with the corresponding two months of last year.
