On the first weekday, over-the-counter (OTC) market witnessed drops of 0.2 percent to 2.5 percent in mortgage bond prices, reported Tasnim news agency. Some 209 million bonds were traded during the day worth 680 billion rials, while the OTC index (IFX) slipped 2.06 points to stand at 863.42 points. Mortgage bonds, which steadily got more expensive during the past nine months, are expected to witness a balance of supply and demand. During autumn, a time when the real-estate market generally ebbs away, a marked drop is seen in demand for the mortgage bonds. Securities prices started to soar after the ceiling for housing loans was raised in January to 350,000,000 rials ($13,158), from the previous 200,000,000 rials.
