The Purchasing Managers’ Index for the housing sector in the first month of the current Iranian year (March 21-April 20) settled at 40.5 from 63.93 in the preceding month (Feb. 19-March 20), indicating a 36.65% decrease, Iran Chamber of Cooperatives reported.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors and provides information about current business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
Raw material inventory, employment conditions, new orders, supplier deliveries and export/production conditions were among the criteria quizzed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
If a business scores 50, it means that no change has been perceived compared to the previous month, while scores higher or lower than 50 indicate that the business is booming or stagnating respectively.
The survey includes 12 questions about business conditions and any changes, whether it be improving, no changes or deteriorating.
It is measured through a monthly survey sent to senior executives of 100 companies active in the real-estate sector. It is based on five major survey areas: "new orders" with a coefficient of 30%, "raw material inventory" (10%), "production" (25%), "supplier deliveries" (15%) and "employment" (20%).
The "new orders" sub-index stood at 36 in the month ending April 20, indicating a 38.14% decrease compared with 58.2 of the month ending March 20.
The "supplier deliveries" sub-index, which measures how fast deliveries are made, fell by 22.91% from 59.02 in the month ending March 20 to 45.5 in the month ending April 20.
The "raw materials (construction materials) inventory" sub-index slid by 33.7% from 56.56 in the month ending March 20 to 37.5 in the month leading to April 20.
The "employment" sub-index decreased by 24.7% from 52.46 in the month ending March 20 to 39.5 in the month ending April 20.
To calculate housing PMI, seven secondary criteria were also surveyed by ICC, including "raw materials purchase prices", which stood at 61.48 in the month ending March 20. The sub-index jumped by 42.32% to stand at 87.5 in the month ending April 20.
"Warehouse inventory" fell by 7.81% to reach 34 in the first Iranian month from 36.88 in the 12th fiscal month.
The "exports" sub-index settled at 47 in the month ending April 20 from 48.36 in the month ending March 20, registering a 2.81% decrease.
"Prices of products or services" grew by 1.94% to stand at 63.5 in the month ending April 20 from 62.29 in the month ending March 20.
"Fuel consumption" decreased by 19.59% from 54.1 in the 12th Iranian month to 43.5 in the first Iranian month.
"Sales" dropped by 39% from 54.1 in the 12th month to 33 in the first month.
And, the "performance expectations for the following month" sub-index settled at 61.5 in the month ending April 20 from 41.8 in the month ending March 20, showing a 47.13% growth.
