Business & Money | Sunday 10 March, 2019 11:14 am |

CONTINUED DEMAND AND RISING PRICES DRIVE EGYPT’S RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE, SAY EXPERTS

 Residential real estate in Egypt is expected to continue to rise in price during 2019 even though experts are forecasting trends towards smaller properties, more flexible payment methods and the emergence of demand from foreign buyers.

Fathallah Fawzi, Chairman of the MENA for Real Estate Development Consultancy, said that 2019 is expected to usher local and foreign real estate investment into the country thanks to economic reforms and growth in the property sector.

“Government plans and the unprecedented development in the real estate sector over the past four years in the President Sisi era should encourage more companies to get involved in achieving the country’s plan for urban development,” said Fawzi. “Meanwhile, together with the private sector, the government has released new development land, which has already witnessed an increase in sales compared to last year.”

Overseas investor demand is also expected to be spurred by a recent ranking forecast for Egypt by Standard Chartered Bank, which puts the country as the world’s seventh largest economy by 2030.

These trends, and more, are to come under the spotlight at Cityscape Egypt - the country's largest networking exhibition and conference on property development - which runs at Egypt International Exhibition Center (EIEC) from March 27-30. More than 60 developers will be at the show to tender competitive offerings to a market with an annual residential demand in excess of 900,000 units.

“All the big names are committed to the show and we anticipate high demand for the projects with apartments of below 120 square metres targeting the more youthful, middle-income groups,” explained Chris Speller, Cityscape Group Director of Informa Exhibitions, which organises the event. “Middle-income earners are seen as the biggest market drivers as they are the ones likely to upscale in a couple of years.”

Top developers lined up among the 70 plus exhibitors at the 8th edition of the Egypt show include: Safwa Urban Development, Hyde Park, Palm Hills, Aristo, Al Futtaim, Iwan, TMG, Tatweer Misr, Wadi Delga, and SODIC, Emaar Misr, City Edge, and Orascom Developments.

In addition to revealing a new commercial project, Safwa Urban Development plans to promote four estates at the show including High City, Capital Heights, Capital Hub and High City Mall. The company’s spokesperson Ahmed Nabil said buyers will also be able to take advantage of a special Cityscape offer comprising purchase with 0% down payment and repayments staged in installments for up to seven and a half years.

While highly-competitive and facing tough challenges, the Egyptian property market is expected to attain 10% price rises this year, according to Invest-Gate the print and online information platform. “Despite the challenges, the Egyptian real estate market continues to be one of the most important sectors of the economy and is responsible for 10% of GDP,” explained Speller. “The Government alone has 20 new cities planned to house 30 million residents, with 16 of them under construction including the New Administrative Capital, New Alamein and New Mansoura.”

The exhibition will open in the wake of the Cityscape Conference, which runs at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza from March 24-25, under the theme: ‘Energising the Market and Re-Instating Confidence.’ Divided into two distinct themes – one to address the overall market strategy, the other the architecture, design and technology influencing Egyptian development – the Conference is expected to attract over 250 top-level industry professionals to exchange knowledge, information, trends and business opportunities.

Emerging trends will be explored in-depth at the conference, with one session being completely devoted to re-booting the system and the key steps to re-invigorating the market and attracting investors. An expert panel of Nabil Amasha, former senior executive at Emaar Misr; Hisham Talaat Mostafa, CEO, Talaat Mostafa Group, Amr El Kady, CEO, City Edge Developments, and Tarek Hegazy, Partner, LimeVest Partners will dig deep into the current internal and external challenges facing the real estate market, how property developers, financiers, and the government could work together to satisfy growing market demand, how external economic conditions are affecting the local market, and the key steps that must be taken by all stakeholders to ensure a more sustainable and rewarding market for all.

Elsewhere on the agenda is an incisive discussion into how the middle-class can be helped through the establishment of a mature mortgage finance market. Led by Hassan Hussein, Chairman, El Taamir Mortgage Finance, the session will feature Maysa Sabah, Housing Expert and former Middle East Managing Director at the Affordable Housing Institute; May Abdelhamid, Chairman, Mortgage Finance Fund; Arch. Baher El-Shaarawy, Technical Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities; and Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, CEO, Tatwir Misr.

“We are pulling together the most knowledgeable minds in the business to pursue the answers to pressing issues,” explained Speller.

Cityscape Egypt will also feature a round of the prestigious Cityscape Awards with categories this year being separated into Built Projects - those with a minimum of one phase completed and operational within the last three years - and Future Projects for those commenced onsite but not yet completed.  “Both developer and the architect will be recognised for their contribution to the winning projects,” added Speller. “These awards are now highly sought-after to deliver an added degree of credibility to projects and the fact that the number of entries is growing is a reflection of the maturing of the marketplace.”

Award categories to be recognised include Commercial Project; Leisure & Hospitality Project; Community, Culture & Tourism Project; Residential - Low to Medium Rise Project; Residential - Medium to High Rise Project; Masterplan Project; Retail Project; Environmental Sustainability Project Award; Affordable Housing – Judge’s Special Commendation.

Sponsors and Partners for Cityscape Egypt 2019:

This year’s Platinum Exhibition Sponsors for Cityscape Egypt are Gates Developments, and SAK Developments, while Master Sponsor is El Mostakbal. The Conference Sponsors for Cityscape Egypt are OLX as Property Portal Sponsor, Gates Developments as Platinum Sponsor, Contact Mortgage Finance as Cityscape Egypt’s Financial Partner, Colliers International as Gold Conference Sponsor, The Land Developers as Silver Conference Sponsor.

The Cityscape Egypt Awards Platinum Awards Sponsor for this year is Gates Developments, Aldau Development is the Gold Plus Awards Sponsor, JLL is the Gold Awards Sponsor, while The Land Developers as Silver Awards Sponsor.

 

 

About Cityscape Egypt:

Cityscape Egypt is owned by Informa Exhibitions. Informa Exhibitions delivers over 220 trade and consumer exhibitions annually across the globe. Cityscape first took place in 2002 in Dubai and since then, it has grown to be the largest real estate event brand globally, with events taking place across the GCC, Middle East, Asia and Turkey. Since its launch, Cityscape has welcomed over 500,000 real estate professionals and investors from over 160 countries.