House prices were down 14.09% during the year to Q2 2022

Egypt’s house price movements remains erratic, with the nationwide inflation-adjusted real estate index falling by a huge 14.09% during the year to Q2 2022, following a 1.57% y-o-y growth in the previous quarter and a 3.68% decline a year ago. Real house prices plummeted 12.27% q-o-q during the latest quarter. 

In nominal terms, house prices fell by a modest 2.92% during the year to Q2 2022, amidst a surge in inflation. 

In July 2022, annual inflation accelerated to 13.6%, the highest reading since May 2019 and far above the central bank’s target range of between 5% and 9%.

 

Property restrictions lifted

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently removed the last restrictions on foreign ownership of land and property in Egypt, in an effort to buoy the housing market. He also allowed the government, the biggest landowner in Egypt, to use its land for public-private partnership schemes. These improvements, together with the fundamentally strong local demand, is expected to boost the housing market in the coming years.

Rents, rental yields: excellent yields in Cairo at 9.40% 

Cairo apartments are inexpensive at around $831 per sq. m. 

Egypt: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Cairo	$124,650	$977	9.04%

Recent news. Egypt has successfully weathered the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its real GDP rising by 3.6% in 2020 and by another 3.3% in 2021. In fact, Egypt is the only nation in the MENA that avoided a negative GDP growth during the onset of the pandemic. The economy expanded by a healthy 4.8%, on average, in the past five years, as various economic reforms have successfully buoy business investment and private consumption in the country. 

The Egyptian economy is projected to expand strongly by 5.9% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).