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Propertyfinder receives demand requests for property worth EGP 4.6bn in Q1 12% growth in hotel industry in Egypt, says Propertyfinder's executive manager
In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Mohamed Hammad, the executive manager of Propertyfinder, a real estate website that has been providing the tools to help consumers find the properties that fit their needs, said that the real estate sector will witness an increase in prices by approximately 30% during 2017. What areas have the highest demand for apartments? The top six areas are New Cairo, 6th of October City, Sheikh Zayed, Ain Sokhna, Nasr City, and Maadi. What is the size of demand for residential properties on Propertyfinder? The demand for residential units and properties constitutes about 70% of all total searches. When did Propertyfinder start its business in Egypt? Propertyfinder is a multinational company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that was established more than 10 years ago and started its business in Egypt in 2013. We don't buy units, but we are a channel to market units. Furthermore, we operate in six countries besides Egypt: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Morocco. What is the size of demand that Propertyfinder received in 2016? We received purchase demands estimated at EGP 3.3bn in 2016. We expect more in 2017 after the flotation of Egyptian pound. What is the percent increase in prices in real estate units during 2017? I expect an increase of 15% to 30% and it may reach 60% during 2017. Does the increase in prices redirect the clients in their sale preference? The clients who target class A don't change their preferences. However, there are some clients who redirected their sale preferences from class A to B according to their budget. Furthermore, I expect that demand on rent will increase by at least 50%. What is the percent of rent demand that Propertyfinder receives? 30% of our clients demand renting units in the top six mentioned areas. What are the areas that have the highest price per metre? The highest is Fifth Settlement. However, the price of the metre depends on facility management and services. The average of the metre price in New Cairo is between EGP 11,000 and EGP 14,000. Do you expect a real estate bubble? After the Egyptian pound floatation, the local real estate market became attractive to expats, especially those from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and those arrive during the summer season. Furthermore, Egyptians believe that the real estate is a safe haven in which to invest money. I don't think that there will be a real estate bubble in Egypt, but prices may stabilise with no increase—besides, offering long-payment periods that could reach 15 to 20 years. The saturation is in class A; thus, developers will focus in the coming period on classes B and C. How does the appreciation in the dollar value affect the real estate market? In the residential sector, the dollar value will have both a positive and a negative effect. Positively, it will increase Egyptian expatriates' sales. Negatively, it will increase the prices of construction materials. Which areas will change the real estate "map"? The New Administrative Capital will change the map, although land prices are high; however, the government provided discounts of 25% on lands. Do you receive demands to buy residential units in the New Administrative Capital? Yes, people are searching all the time for property in the New Administrative Capital and El Mostakbal City. What is the demand in percent of Egyptian expatriates on property? The demand is approximately 5% to 10%. What is the size of demand requests that the company received in Q1 2017? It is EGP 4.6bn, which is higher than the whole of 2016 and 2015. Do you receive requests for property in Upper Egypt? We receive few requests for property in Upper Egypt. What area has the highest demand for people to purchase second homes? In the recent period, Ain Sokhna is the highest, but I think that after Ramadan, the North Coast will witness a great boom, as during the summer, there are more services to be provided in the North Coast than there are in Ain Sokhna. Which areas are more developed and could become candidates for clients' first homes? Ain Sokhna will witness attraction after New Galala City. What are the challenges that Egypt's real estate sector faces? There is no monitoring on the secondary real estate market, besides the successive increases in prices and the developers' commitment in delivering units period. Furthermore, providing units for class B and C. What is the size of growth in Egypt's hotel industry? The sector is growing by 12%. What is the total size of units the company marketed? The total number of sold units is 525,725, for a total of an estimated 34 million sqm during 2016.
