Aiming at providing an effective strategy to enhance the performance of the real estate market during the coming period, Invest-Gate has concluded its roundtable on the real estate recovery path post-pandemic, held on September 8, 2021, in cooperation with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA), titled “Real Estate Market Recovery Post Recent Gov’t Decisions… Opportunities and Challenges.”

The roundtable hosts prominent experts in the Egyptian real estate sector, aiming at presenting and exchanging visions and proposals to achieve market recovery, including moderator Fathallah Fawzi, Head of Construction Committee at the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA), Khaled Abbas, Deputy Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities for National Project, Mohamed Fouad, Invest-Gate’s CEO, Hisham El Danasoury, CEO of Jumeirah Egypt Real Estate Investments, Nader Khozam, Chairman of Khozam Developments, Nehad Adel, CEO of KVRD, Waleed Mokhtar, CEO of Iwan Developments, Hisham Moussa, Managing Director of Redcon for Offices and Commercial Centers (ROCC), Ahmed Issa, CEO Retail Banking at Commercial International Bank (CIB), Basheer Mostafa, CEO of First Group Developments, Mohamed Banany, Managing Director of Real Estate Domain (RED), Alaa Fekry, Chairman of Beta Egypt for Urban Development, Asser Hamdy, Chairman of Orientals for Urban Development (OUD), and Tamer Erfan, CEO for Investment at Al Ahly Sabbour Development.

The roundtable discussion concluded with the following recommendations:

The New Real Estate Mortgage Initiative

• An integrated system and a comprehensive vision for real estate finance are required.
• The banking sector should be part of the real estate financing system, as well as provide developers with the needed finance.
• All efforts from all market pillars, either the government or developers, should unit to set specific real estate financing mechanisms.
• More guarantees should exist between the real estate developer and the client, especially income proof.
• The implementation of the international mortgage lending mechanisms should be examined to improve the registration and mortgage methods.
• Financing under-construction units should be allowed, taking into consideration all required guarantees for the financer.
• Studying the possibility of financing real estate projects that are implemented by 30% or 40% to solve the financing problem.
• Cut the interest rate to suit all customer segments.
• Current mortgage initiatives should be expanded to include larger client segments, in addition to extending payment periods.
• Simplification of mortgage procedures.
• The 3% mortgage initiative can be developed, according to the project type and the developer, using different mechanisms.
• An organizational structure for the real estate sector is required to allocate roles and identify the real estate developer, such as the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) in Dubai.

Presidential Directives: Projects are to be 30% completed prior to its marketing launch

• Formulate a mechanism that is compatible with all parties operating in the real estate sector.
• The government must take into account all matters related to existing contracts
• The decision needs to be implemented over several steps.
• Greater cooperation should be developed between the private sector and the government on real estate projects, whether by participating in assets or revenues, with a given proportion.
• Call for methods and solutions to overcome supply issues in the real estate market following this decision.
• Real estate companies should be classified to ensure the project’s implementation and delivery to clients on the stipulated date.
• There should be guarantees obligating customers to pay the installments in parallel with extending the payment period for the land price.