Egypt continues to grow, aids the domestic market. - Emerging Real Estate

Egypt continues to grow, aids the domestic market.

09/12/2010

 Egypt Continues to grow, aids domestic market

Following on from the latest resurgence into Egyptian property, the government of Egypt is planning on simplifying their mortgage procedure in order to raise the number of domestic customers by 15,000 every year.

The news is encouraging for the industry as previous red tape procedures hampered the entire country’s mortgage sector, limiting it to a paltry 0.5% of GDP compared to 14% in Morocco. While local demand has somewhat protected Egypt from the global credit crunch, most analysts and experts believe that the country now needs to grow its mortgage market in order to continue drawing investment into the property sector.

One of the main tactics will involve the state Mortgage Finance Fund signing up to new protocols that will make registration more efficient and an increase in mortgage financing firms. The Chairman of the State Mortgage Finance Fund, Abdel Hamid has indicated that his agency needs to reduce the time required for mortgage registration from an incredible 6 months to just 1 as well as introduce more detailed electronic databases. Currently Egypt has 11 mortgage financing firms which is up from just 2 in 2005. 3 more banks are expected to start mortgage operations in the next few months.

This new financing law will be passed by government in session on the 13^th December. These new steps have been put in place to help the domestic market increase by 15,000 and the belief is that these new laws could double the size of the industry within two years.

These are all signs of the boom right now in Egyptian property and there is still the widely held belief amongst industry experts that Egypt is one of the places to invest in at this moment. One industry leader indicated some of the major reasons – “Egypt really is the place to be for real estate investors looking for immediate income and medium to long term capital growth and resale potential – and because the property buying process for foreigners in Egypt has become more affordable and more transparent in very recent years, the numbers of investors examining the market and exploring its possibilities is set to rise and rise.”

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