Returns from selling property to foreigners may exceed $10bn annually through the implementation of a plan to market Egyptian real estate products externally, according to Hesham Shoukry, head of the Real Estate Export Council.
Shoukry told a state-owned newspaper that the Egyptian market is one of the most promising and distinctive markets around the world.
He pointed out that the real estate sector is capable within three years of being one of the most important sources for bringing hard currency to Egypt through the sale of real estate to non-Egyptians.
Shoukry noted that there is an added value to the idea of exporting the property to non-Egyptians as one of the sources of foreign income, namely to bring in more foreign currency through increasing the tourist nights to be spent by owners of those properties in Egypt.
”There is a recent study that confirms that every real estate unit that is sold to a non-resident in the country adds 800 to 1,000 tourist nights, besides the return of the sale of the property, in addition to the tourist promotion by the foreign buyer to Egypt with his friends through hosting them at his property inside the country,” Shoukry said.
“Liberalisation of the exchange rate reduced the value of the property if valued in dollars, which means that Egypt has a large export potential compared to the competing countries in the region, such as Turkey, Dubai, and Greece.”
Furthermore, Capital Group Properties’ (CGP) chief projects officer and member of the Real Estate Development Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), Amgad Hassanein, told Daily News Egypt that in light of the US dollar appreciation against the pound, the Egyptian real estate market has become a very attractive investment option, adding that for $100,000, which is approximately EGP 1.5m, a person could purchase a luxury apartment in the most exclusive areas in Cairo.
