The latest data on Tehran’s housing market released by the Central Bank of Iran show the uptrend in sales is continuing alongside rising prices.
During the 10th fiscal month (Dec. 22-Jan. 20), a total of 9,800 homes were sold in the capital city, registering an increase of 0.5% compared with the preceding month and a 179.3% jump compared with the same month of last year.
The CBI data also show that the average price of each square meter of a residential property in Tehran stood at 329.4 million rials ($1,176) during the month under review, showing a surge of 20.3% over last year’s same month, when average prices stood at 273.9 million rials ($978).
Home prices in the capital city increased by 1.1% compared to 325.9 million rials ($1,163) in the ninth month of the current year.
During the month ending Jan. 20, residential properties up to five years old constituted the highest proportion of deals at 33.6% (or 3,301 deals), down by 5.4 percentage points compared with the same month of last year.
The lost share was added to homes with a lifespan of six to 10 years, 11 to 15 years, 16 to 20 years and over 20 years. They accounted for 20.9%, 14.6%, 17.9% and 13% of total deals compared with the same month of last year’s 17.9%, 13%, 17.5% and 12.6% respectively.
The distribution of dealt properties indicates that among Tehran’s 22 districts, District 5 grabbed the highest share of total deals at 14.8%, which was followed by districts 10 and 4 with a share of 10% and 8.8%, respectively.
All-in-all, 10 districts (5, 10, 2, 4, 14, 7, 8, 1, 15 and 11) grabbed the lion's share of the deals at 72.9%, with the remaining 12 districts holding a 27.1% share.
Among Tehran's 22 districts, District 1 registered the highest average home price of 702.2 million rials ($2,507) per square meter. District 18 offered the capital city's cheapest homes with an average per-square meter price of 156.5 million rials ($558). The aforesaid figures show a respective increase of 17% and 28.8% YOY.
Residential units with an average price range of 200 million rials ($714) to 250 million rials ($892) per square meter were the most popular in Tehran during the Iranian month under review, as they accounted for 17.1% of all deals. They were followed by units priced at 150 million rials ($535) to 200 million rials per square meter with a share of 16.5% and homes priced at 250 million rials to 300 million rials ($1,071) per square meter with a share of 13.8%.
From the total number of deals, 62.5% belonged to homes cheaper than the average per-square meter price of the city (i.e., 329.4 million rials or $1,176).
Residential units with a floor area of 60-70 square meters registered the highest number of sales with a 15.9% share of total deals.
Units with an area of 50-60 and 70-80 square meters ranked second and third with a respective share of 15.6% and 12.5%. All-in-all, residential properties with an area of under 80 square meters had a 58.5% share of total deals.
The data indicate that Tehran’s homes worth between 10 billion rials ($35,714) and 15 billion rials ($53,571) were the most popular with a share of 19.4% from the total deals. These were followed by homes with a price tag of between 5 billion rials ($17,857) and 10 billion rials, as well as those priced at 15 billion rials to 20 billion rials ($71,428) with a respective share of 15.5% and 12.9% of total deals.
Collectively, homes valued under 20 billion rials had a 48.9% share of total home deals in Tehran during the ninth month of the current year.
The central regulator also reported changes in tenancy prices in the capital city and across urban areas.
According to CBI, prices of rented residential units in Tehran and across urban areas increased by 50.7% and 54% respectively during the 10th fiscal month compared with the corresponding month of last year.
First List of Empty Homes Sent to INTA for Taxation
The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has finalized the first definitive list of vacant residential properties containing 1.17 million homes and sent it to the Iranian National Tax Administration, IRNA reported earlier this month.
After nine months since the self-declaration by homeowners via the National Property and Housing Database, http://amlak.mrud.ir, the first list of empty residential properties identified by the ministry was submitted to INTA on Monday to be taxed before the beginning of the new fiscal year (March 21).
Officials with the ministry say the identification process of empty homes will continue as per Article 54 of Direct Tax Code (vacancy tax).
Heads of the households, whether homeowner or renter, were asked to register their properties online in two months as of April 8.
“Psychological propaganda concerning the National Property and Housing Database has discouraged many people from submitting their housing information to the ministry; very few people have registered on the database,” former roads minister, Mohammad Eslami, was quoted as saying by the Persian daily Etemad.
“Vacancy tax for real entities will be six times more than the value of the property’s rent in the first year, 12 times more than the value of rent in the second year and 18 times more in the third year. For legal entities, vacancy tax has been set at 12 times more than the value of the property’s rent in the first year, 24 times more in the second year and 36 times more in the third year,” deputy roads minister, Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh, has been quoted as saying by IRNA.
The Guardians Council – an oversight body that ensures laws are in line with the Sharia and the Iranian Constitution — approved the parliament’s bill on revisions to Article 54 of Direct Tax Code, i.e., vacancy tax, in December 2020.
Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the council spokesman, tweeted that the parliament’s revised proposal on taxing empty homes was not found to be against the Sharia and the Iranian Constitution.
“Revenues that will be collected from the taxation of empty homes will go to the National Housing Fund to finance loans to low-income households,” Mahmoudzadeh said, noting that the National Property and Housing Database — http://amlak.mrud.ir — was not solely designed to tax vacant homes; the main objective of designing the website is to identify the housing conditions of Iranian families for future plans.
“Article 54 of Direct Tax Code [vacancy tax] provides that failure to register one’s housing information according to the instructions will result in the discontinuation of a number of public services, including cash subsidies, opening bank account, passport and vehicle license plate registration services,” he was quoted as saying by Eqtesad Online.
Taxing empty homes is aimed at increasing housing supply in a bid to lower prices.
