Tehran Real Estate Deals Register Autumn Rise

Head of the Tehran Association of Realtors says the volume of real estate deals in the capital rose 18% since the start of autumn, a trend which he hopes would extend to other parts of the country.

"Whether or not the volume of home sales have risen or remain stagnant cannot be properly determined by surveying only a handful of real estate agencies," Hesam Oqbaei said in a talk with Fars News Agency in response to claims that reports from several realtors in Tehran indicate low growth in home purchases.

"There are 12,000 realtors in Tehran and one cannot form a precise judgment based on the opinions of a limited number."

"A realtor in one district could be reporting a positive performance while things might not look as bright for a realtor in another part of the capital."

The reality of the daily-checked statistics pertaining to the volume of home deals shows that "since the onset of fall (September 22) the volume of real estate deals in Tehran registered an 18% increase both in sales and rents."

Oqbaei was quick to note that this growth necessarily is not significant.

"Comparing data relating to corresponding periods of last year, it becomes evident that an 18% (year-on-year) hike in home sales in Tehran is not a remarkable feat," he said. "Nevertheless, it is something that cannot be denied or ignored."

Unlike Tehran, the head of the city's Association of Realtors notes, the volume of real estate deals in other parts of the country has entered a downward trajectory in a way that in the preceding two months, they experienced a 35-40% decline. This puts the total number of deals at 89,000 –for both sales and rents.

No Price Hike

"It is predicted that home prices will not rise by the end of spring of the next fiscal year (June 2017)," Oqbaei said. "But in summer we could witness a further growth in the housing sector that will not translate into higher prices."

The official said in the past three weeks a total of 11,727 sales and 15,025 rent deals were registered in Tehran. Across the country, 40,395 and 47,733 sales and rent deals went down respectively

"We hope the increase in the volume of real-estate deals in Tehran would extend to other parts of the country."

Iran's property market has been in recession since 2013 after a short-lived housing bubble burst. A variety of schemes by the government to revive the key sector have been all but ineffective so far.