Housing accounted for the largest portion of expenses of urban households during the previous fiscal that ended in March.

Central Bank of Iran Monday published the annual report on household� income and expenses, showing that 35% of household income in urban areas was used for �housing, water, electricity and energy� expenses during the year or a 12.4% growth compared with the prior year.

On a positive note, urbanites experienced a 12.3% growth in their average gross annual income in the said period, according to the central bank. But family expenses grew by 7.3% on average last year.

Share of �restaurant and hotel,� and �healthcare,� categories in� expenses posted 13% and 8% growth respectively, the report says.

According to CBI data, 65% of families in cities own their own homes, whereas 25.2% of them are living in rented houses. About 9% of families were living in free housing units as of last year.

Numbers also show that three-bedroom housing units accounted for 47.5% of total houses in urban areas.

Families in urban areas had 3.38 members on average , �less than the previous years.� Four-member families accounted for 29% of the total.

The CBI surveyed 12,700 families for the report.

By Financial Tribune