Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) said land prices increased 17.2% in the second half of the past Iranian year – which ended March 20, 2014 – compared to the previous year. Based on SCI report, the rent for each square meter of house also increased 14.2% during the period. Currently, 59 percent of Iran’s population live as tenants. Since autumn of 2011, real estate prices in Iran’s major cities, especially in Tehran, skyrocketed and turned developers into overnight millionaires. The increase was in part due to a rise in the price of housing materials and land, which was triggered by a cut in fuel subsidies. Some economists say the huge level of liquidity, which reached 346 billion dollars during the two termed presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been the main cause of the rise in housing prices.
