(28 May 2012) The soaring cost of property in the Iranian capital, Tehran, is pricing many people out of the housing market and making parts of the city as expensive as upmarket districts in some Western cities.
Purchasing a house or apartment has long been the dream of many Tehran residents, but today even renting a decent place is beyond the reach of many.
Despite government officials' denial that prices in the housing sector are soaring, there has been at least a 20 to 30 percent rise in prices in the capital, according to semi-official Mehr News agency.
Summer is traditionally the peak moving season, when the school holidays begin.
But for many, it is no longer a matter of moving to a newer, better and more spacious apartment.
Every year, renters are worried they will not be able to afford even their current homes.
Mahshid Shafiee is a tenant who is currently hunting for a new apartment in Tehran as she can no longer afford the rent where she lives.
"My contract last year was 70,000,000 Rials (5,718 US dollars) as security deposit and 5,500,000 Rials (449 US dollars) as a monthly rent. Now, the landlord ... asks for 10,500,000 (857 US dollars) a month," she said.
"I have to move into a 40 square metres apartment for 8,000,000 Rials a month (653.5 US dollars)," Shafiee said.
One square metre (10,73 square feet) in the high-rise buildings in northern Tehran sells for 70 or 80 (m) million Rials (more than 6500 US dollars), according to one real state agent.
"Apartment prices in Tehran, in a 'third level' neighbourhood is 30,000,000 Rials (2,450 US dollars) (per square metre), in a 'second level' neighbourhood it is around 50 or 60 million Rials (4,084 to 4,901US dollars), and in 'level one' neighbourhoods it's more than 70 or 80 million Rials (more than 6500 US dollars) per square metre," said estate agent Masoud Yaghoubi.
The northern areas of Tehran have always been more affluent than the south, where the population is denser and traffic along the congested streets is much worse.
"There is a price race between Iran with its poor facilities and material, and apartments in a city like San Francisco with their facilities. In Tehran the price of property is 1.5 times more expensive than apartments in San Francisco with such amenities," Yaghoubi added.
Generally, luxury houses equipped with facilities such as swimming pools, saunas and health clubs are the norm in northern Tehran.
Currently a standard and independent system for understanding the true rent and mortgage rates in different parts of Tehran does not exist but a glimpse at the database of real estate agencies reveals that it is impossible to even rent cheaply there.
Despite the soaring prices, property is still the safest and most profitable investment in Iran, and over the last decade has brought many investors incredible wealth they could have not achieved in any other way.
One of the most significant campaign promises of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected Iranian President in 2004 for his first term, was to solve the housing problem for low-income Iranian families.
In 2008, Ahmadinejad's administration initiated a massive construction project across the country called "Maskan-e-Mehr" aimed at attracting the demand from big cities to suburbs and satellite towns by building apartment complexes on cheaper land and selling them through low-interest loans or 99-year home ownership leases.
Iran's Housing and Urban Development Ministry has said it has built around 100,000 houses so far but they are still not ready for the owners to move in.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
