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are other factors.
"The capacity to increase rental rates is not more than 20% in big cities, and around 10 to 15% in smaller cities.”
He added that “the possibility of increasing prices in the rental market is remote because of supply and demand in renting”.
In recent years, according to Oghbayi, housing prices have climbed without pause, “and as a result, in those years more tenants have migrated from wealthy sections of [cities] to downtown areas, and tenants in more deprived areas migrate to satellite towns eventually”.
Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced on May 20 that it is to set up an emergency committee to set rental rates to ensure they do not exceed consumer inflation.
Abbas Farhadieh, director of the housing investment and economy department at the ministry, reportedly said: “The committee will consist of nine people from the private sector, Majlis [parliament], estate agents and the central bank.”
The committee would not interfere in the free market but would attempt to set clear guidelines for property prices in each individual area, he added.
The Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI), in its latest report on the matter, said rental prices in Iran increased by 21.7% y/y in the fourth quarter of the 2018/2019 Persian calendar year (ended March 20).
The minimum price per square metre of residential floorspace in Tehran stood at IRR28,000 ($0.20) in the capital’s poor southern districts, with the maximum price being IRR1.71mn ($12). The prices do not take into account the required deposit.
Some 300 Iranian nationals obtained Turkish citizenship under a “golden visa” scheme between last September and February this year, state-run news service Anadolu has reported.
The scheme offers citizenship in exchange for a certain level of real estate investment. In September, the government cut the investment threshold from $1mn to $250,000.
Since September, 1,276 foreign nationals from 63 countries have been granted golden visa citizenship, with Iranians constituting the largest group with 289.
In the first quarter of this year, Iranians purchased 946 pieces of real estate in Turkey. That put them in the second place after Iraqis, who bought 1,782 properties.
Also in the first three months of this year, property sales to foreign nationals hit a total of 9,618 units.
“Iranians have typically sought US, Canadian citizenship or citizenship from a European country. However, this changed after the Syrian conflict, which triggered an influx of refugees, and the anti-immigrant policies of US President Donald Trump,” Fatih Cayabatmaz, a partner in VIPTurkishPass, a consulting firm, reportedly said.
He added that after the US slapped the Tehran regime with sanctions, Iranians, who fear political and economic uncertainties, increased their property purchases in Turkey.
9.1.8 Retail sector news
Iranian police last week closed down 547 restaurants and cafes in Tehran for non-compliance with “Islamic principles,” the capital’s police chief said, according to Fars News Agency.
Iran’s so-called morality patrols and regular police forces often crack down on
40 IRAN Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com