Housing Savings Accounts Exceed 400,000 Applicants

The number of people, mostly first-time homebuyers who have registered to receive government facilities for boosting their purchasing power in the housing market, is drawing closer to half a million.
Bank Maskan, the agent bank of the housing sector and the administrator of Housing Savings Account, announced on Sunday in the latest performance report on its website that the scheme registered more than 415,000 applicants by the end of the previous fiscal year on March 20, 2018.
HSA is an initiative mainly aimed at first-time prospective homeowners, which requires applicants to make down payments ranging from 400 million rials ($9,523) to 800 million rials ($19,047) and wait for a year to receive double that amount. Couples can apply together and get two loans' worth. 
According to Bank Maskan, the initiative passed the 400,000 milestone when 18,152 applicants opened new accounts during the final month of the previous year. Of that number, a total of 5,055 applicants were from Tehran.
"In the Iranian month of Bahman (Jan. 21-Feb. 19), a total of 20,062 applicants invested in HSA and the share of applicants from Tehran was 5,332 people," the report reads.