Egypt Property is Attracting More Than Just Home Buyers

According to a press release dated: 26th May 2008, two leading United Arab Emirates (UAE) finance firms are planning to offer mortgages to Egypt property buyers. The finance companies, Amlak and Tamweel are expanding their mortgage lending activity to take advantage of the boom in the Egyptian property market at the same time, reducing their dependence on the still flourishing local market.

Egypt Property: Encouraging Signs

Mortgage financing of properties in Egypt is a relatively new innovation. That said, it still amounted to over Dh687 million in 2006, more than doubling to Dh1.37 billion in 2007. The Egyptian Government has set a target to increase this to Dh3.44 billion by the latter half of 2008. Amlak and Tamweel hope that this planned escalation of mortgage lending will help them gain a significant slice of the Egyptian mortgage market.

Egypt is the largest Arab country in terms of population has seen GDP increase by 7% from 2006 to 2007. In the medium term, this trend is expected to be sustained, although, because of the global slowdown this could be at a slightly slower pace than previous years.

The continuing demand for Egypt properties can be attributed to several key factors. Egypt’s buoyant economy is fuelling demand from the bourgeoning professional classes who have seen their incomes rise substantially in recent years. Relative political stability has led many of the biggest names in Middle Eastern construction to launch Egyptian property projects. Construction giants such as Damac and Emaar have in turn have attracted overseas property investors who appreciate the combination of top quality Egyptian real estate developments and ultra-low prices that have been set reflect the price sensitivity of the local market.

The wide scale development of new houses for sale in Egypt means that companies with the enterprise of Amlak and Tamweel are sure to benefit from the increasing demand for mortgage products coming from prospective Egyptian property buyers.