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.

The real estate sector has for decades been the main investment venue for Iranians. "Land never dies" goes the old Persian saying. Thus, the housing market and prices are prominent in the Iranian psyche. Ordinary Iranians wonder if they ever can save up enough to own their own homes, often tiny apartments in a crowded city like Tehran or Tabriz. If they do not own their residences, they rent. Iranian families who pay rent often spend 60-70% of their budget on housing alone. Any rent increase reduces their ability to purchase food items or pay for other services. As inflation and unemployment reduce average Iranian household incomes, an increase in housing prices and rents spells catastrophe for Iranian families.

Citizens and observers alike are baffled by the new wave of increases in housing prices across Iran. 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. Even if such claims are exaggerated by those with access to Twitter or other platforms, one cannot help noticing Iranian families' increased vulnerability in the housing markets.

For one thing, the share of the renter population has been increasing in Iran and metropolitan areas. According to the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), more Iranians are paying rent for their shelter today than at any other time since the foundation of the Islamic Republic. In 1986, one in every five Iranian families was renting; by 2020, one in every three was living in a rental property. The ratio in Tehran, Iran's capital, is reported as two out of every five families. As more Iranian families become tenants, their livelihood depends on the housing market's stability in an economy infamous for its volatility.