The government's initiative to develop middle-class housing has met the needs of 50% of the local market, according to Hany El Assal chairperson of Misr Italia Properties. El Assal stressed the importance of Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly's initiative to develop middle-class housing in return for providing some investment privileges for real estate developers. During a press conference held Sunday, El Assal elaborated that the government's competition with the private sector in the construction of luxury housing is a misconception among some developers and contractors, especially that there is increased demand for housing, which needs to be combined to meet all that demand. He further explained that competition between the private sector and the government will not appear now but may appear later. El Assal pointed out that the volume of ongoing urban development in Egypt encourages all developers to invest and direct more investments in Egypt's mega projects. He noted that his company has decided to concentrate its investments in the Egyptian real estate market after acquiring land in the New Administrative Capital. During the conference, a number of real estate developers confirmed the importance of Egypt's real estate market in attracting investments due to the development process and real demand. For his part, Salman Bin Saedan, resident and chairperson of Saudi real estate development company Sa'dan, said there are many factors common in the Egyptian and Saudi markets, the most prominent of which are the high gap between supply and demand and a real demand of around 1.5m units annually. Saedan noted that the Egyptian real estate market depends on the trust between the developer and the client and selling on off-plan projects without the presence of a guarantor of the rights of the client, which is not working in the Saudi market where an account is opened on behalf of the project to deposit funds to ensure customers spend on the implementation of the project. Tabarak Developments Chairperson Ali El-Shorbani said that the Saudi market has become a promising and attractive market for real estate developers, especially in the light of recent government decisions in Saudi Arabia. El-Shorbani pointed out that the investment laws in Saudi Arabia encourage foreign developers to invest, which do not require any special requirements for the non-Saudi developer, only some guarantees that maintain clients' money and ensure implementation of the project. He agreed with Saedan that the Egyptian and Saudi real estate markets are characterized by a real demand and an attractive investment climate. Chairperson of Degla Group For Investment – Meamaar Al Morshedy, Mohammed Al Morshedy said that his company has about 70,000 customers, which is the largest customer base of a real estate investment company in the local market. Al Morshedy added that Saudi Arabia is a promising and attractive investment market. It also has a real demand volume that is very similar to that of the Egyptian market. He explained that his company has investments in Greece, which is one of the strong countries in real estate investment.
