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Can Iran turn its faltering housing sector around?

There are several state initiatives at work aimed at improving housing affordability, but saving Iran’s ailing housing sector will require time and private sector participation.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. 

A general view of housing complexes in northwestern Tehran on a clear day February 12, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: CITYSCAPE ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E72C1NY001

Iran’s housing sector is in a dire state, with prices skyrocketing and sales plummeting across the country, especially in metropolises. The government of President Hassan Rouhani and the parliament have several major initiatives in the works, but do they really stand a chance at turning the faltering sector around?

When President Donald Trump announced in May 2018 that the United States was withdrawing from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and unilaterally imposing harsh economic sanctions, a currency crisis developed in Iran that shot up inflation. The immense inflationary wave soon hit the housing sector, which had just exited its longest recession in recent history.

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