Tehran Home Sales Down, Prices Up

A total of 11,800 housing units were sold in Tehran during the month ending Dec. 20, marking a 5.9% drop in the number of home deals compared with the same period of last year. Home deals also dropped by 5.1% compared with the month before.

The average price of housing units in the city reached 44.3 million rials per square meter to record a 7.7% and 0.5% growth compared with the same period of last year and previous month, respectively, according to the latest issue of “Trends in Tehran Housing Market” published by the Central Bank of Iran.

The released figures show that more than 60% of home deals were finalized at lower than average prices.

“Houses priced at 300-350 million rials accounted for 12.4% of home deals, higher than other price groups,” it added.

The publication also notes that houses with an area of less than 80 square meters accounted for 51.5% of total sales in this period.

“Housing units priced under 3 billion rials had a 50.1% share in the total number of houses sold,” it said.

Housing units built in the past five years accounted for 52.5% of total deals. However, CBI numbers indicate a 9.1% drop in total number of newly-built home sales, compared with the same period of last year.

Surprisingly, the demand for purchasing housing units above 20 years increased during the period. A year-on-year comparison of home deals reveals a 13.7% growth in the number of such houses that were sold.

Neighborhoods located in northwest Tehran still record the highest number of deals across the city. Districts 5 and 2 accounted for 26.8% of sold houses in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (started March 20).

District 16, located in southern Tehran, registered the highest monthly growth in prices during this period–up 15.9%. Houses located in District 10, central Tehran, experienced a 4.3% growth in prices during the one month, marking the lowest growth compared with other neighborhoods.

Residential units located in Tehran's northern areas were the most expensive houses. Buyers paid an average of 100.1 million rials for purchasing a single square meter in the area. District 17, located in the south, recorded the lowest average price during the month ending December 20 with an average price of 22.1 million rials per square meter.

The CBI also reviewed Tehran's housing market trends in the nine months to December 20, showing that Tehrani realtors recorded 117,400 deals, at an average price of 43.5 million rials. A year-on-year comparison of data indicates an 8.6% growth in the number of sold housing units and a 4.7% increase in average price.

According to the central bank data, rents grew by 11.2% in Tehran and 9.6% in other urban areas of the country, during the ninth month of the current Iranian year (ended Dec. 20).