Since the holy month of Ramadan is almost upon us and what it entails with family gatherings, weekly outings, and shorter working hours, Invest-Gate surveys a number of real estate key players to know if Ramadan is a low sales season and if it, in turn, affects the overall yearly revenues.

Ramadan Sales: A Matter Of Perspective

“We consider Ramadan a low sales season,” Senior Phase Development at Talaat Moustafa Group Heba Saleh tells Invest-Gate, adding that Ramadan does not really affect the yearly revenues as “it is only one month a year.”

But even if the holy month is considered a low season, some choose to look at the half-full side of the glass. “We do not really consider it a low season as much as we consider it a preload to the back-to-school season,” Philopateer Dimitri, senior executive – commercial sector at Al Ahly for Real Estate Development – Sabbour tells Invest-Gate.

He adds that he does not see the market’s performance during Ramadan as being slack, but he sees it more as an anticipation to the upcoming season, which begins in September.

On the other hand, there are those in the real estate market who disagree, arguing that it is business-as-usual during the holy month. “People expect sales to be weak during that month but that is not the case; sales are quite normal,” Mohamed Maher, business development manager at Equity Real Estate Development tells Invest-Gate.

He adds that Ramadan has been taking place in the summer for a long time now, and “people got accustomed to that; buying properties both in the North Coast and in the capital.”

Along the same line of thought, Rana Abu Allam of Iwan for Investment and Development also believes that Ramadan is not a particularly low sales season. “We continue to sell,” she tells Invest-Gate, “just a little lower than the remaining months.”

Ramadan or not, “in general,” according to Abu Allam, “the best months for sale, which raise the overall yearly sales, are during Q4 as people have their end-of-year bonuses and developers sometimes have offers, so it is the best time to sell first homes.”

North Coast Boom

Since Ramadan has been a summer staple for the past few years, many real estate professionals believe that the North Coast’s second-home market witnesses a boom during the holy month.

“Ramadan is considered sort of a low season in terms of sales except in regards to units in the North Coast as Ramadan has been taking place in the summer,” Supervisor Sales – Property Consultant at Tatweer Misr Tarek Ghamrawy tells Invest-Gate.

However, this year, since Ramadan is coming in mid-May, a little earlier than the past few years, Ghamrawy foresees that people might “wait afterwards,” depending on the launches of the developers.

“Since Ramadan is coming early this year perhaps the new launches will be in June,” he predicts.

But the North Coast is not the only location that reaps the benefits of Ramadan taking place in the summer, other Developers who offer second-home projects elsewhere also thrive during the month.

Ismail Hafez, marketing manager at Mousa Coast Developments, tells Invest-Gate that the peak season for Mousa Coast’s sales, which is located in Ras Sudr along the Red Sea’s coastline, is during the summer.

“Since Ramadan has been taking place during the summer for the past years,” according to Hafez, “we consider Ramadan a temporary high sales season.”

There is no doubt that some developers fare better than others during the holy month of Ramadan, but the same goes for the rest of the year. Major sales’ drivers will always primarily depend on the appeal of prices and installments, location, the developer’s trustworthiness, and most importantly, how the developers market their projects.