- Egypt's real estate market activity increased by 40 percent, according to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who expected more growth in the market in the coming period. Property is increasingly open to foreign investors and tourists.
Speaking at the opening of the fifth Inter Build conference and exhibition in Cairo on Thursday, Prime Minister Nazif said that also the building industry has seen a 15 percent boom.
"Under a new building law, owners of apartment buildings will be forced to carry out maintenance works and consequently promote building maintenance services," the Premier announced.
The new law, meant to regulate construction, demolition and maintenance works of buildings in urban and rural areas, would certainly have positive effects on the building market, Mr Nazif added.
Also for foreign investors, Egypt's property market has been rapidly opening up. The introduction of mortgage facilities for foreigners is now imminent, and there are no domestic inheritance or capital gains taxes for foreigners engaged in Egyptian properties.
The boom in the Egyptian property market follows a liberalisation in investment and property laws, but is also a major consequence of Egypt's steady growth as a tourist destination.
Especially the country's newly build Red Sea resorts, with relatively short flights from Europe and pleasant temperatures all year round, have attracted an ever-growing tourism and construction workers.
As properties in classic holiday resorts such as Spain and France have turned expensive, the market has turned to new countries such as Turkey, which has been flooded by property buyers for years. But as also Turkey grows more expensive and the best properties are grabbed, European attention is now also directed towards Egypt, Morocco and Cape Verde.
However, the real estate markets in all these three countries still are in an emerging phase, representing some risks for buyers. More or less serious property agents in Europe market properties here aggressively, exaggerating the "boom sure to come" and the security of the investment.
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