Egypt real estate prices go up

A number of investment banks released reports in late 2021 stating that the rising cost of building materials in Egypt would increase the price of real estate.

Al-Ahly Pharos, an investment bank, predicted a 10 per cent rise in real-estate prices, due to an expected 15 per cent rise in the prices of building materials in 2022. The Arab African International Bank expects a 9.3 per cent increase in the cost of real estate in Egypt.

However, even with the rise in the cost of building materials and the subsequent rise in real-estate prices, Pharos foresees growth of 10 per cent in sales this year, especially of fully-finished residential units under the real-estate funding programme for the middle-income bracket.

The programme covers units priced at up to LE2.5 million. Pharos also expects a steady rise in the number of cancellations and extensions of instalment plans.

The Arab African Bank report added that since the beginning of the year steel and cement prices have increased by 40 per cent in Egypt to record LE15,500 and LE1,100 per ton, respectively. It said that other building materials were assumed to have registered 6.3 per cent increases, according to the latest inflation rate.

To maintain their profit margins, real-estate developers would have to increase prices by 9.3 per cent, the bank reported.