The real estate sector has for decades been the main investment venue for Iranians. “Land never dies” goes the old Persian saying. The average housing price in Iran has increased nine-fold over the last five years, leaving Iranian families in distress while Iranian officials engage in a blame game. Housing prices are bound to increase in an economy with an inflation rate of 52.5%. And yet no one has experienced the new norms emerging in Iran’s housing market. Social networks are full of pleas for help to find a place after landlords increased rents to renew a contract twice or thrice. There are reports of landlords asking tenants to agree to pay rent in hard currencies such as US dollars or euros.
As a result of increasing housing prices, many residents in Tehran have moved out to suburbs or nearby cities to find affordable housing. In stark contrast to previous waves, mainly consisting of low-income families, the new outgoing residents are mostly middle-class families who cannot afford living costs in Tehran anymore, as the average rent for an average apartment in Tehran has reached 95 million Iranian rials ($310) per month. The market realities have not stopped authorities from blaming astronomical housing prices on realtors, contractors and anyone who speculates in the housing market. Instead of accepting the increasing prices because of expanding the monetary base and rising inflation, Iranian officials prefer to announce new regulations that are either impossible to implement or, if implemented, will have little effect on housing prices.