Dubai-based financial services provider Shuaa Capital expects real estate developers to not raise property prices under the latest round of fuel price hikes, arguing that the increase may reduce demand and eventually lead to a slowdown in sales, Invest-Gate reports.

Shuaa attributed its forecast to the drop in steel and cement prices and highlighted that this downtrend may compensate for the imprint of leaps in fuel prices. “Therefore, housing prices are likely to remain stationary, as developers want to maintain their current market share,” it underlined in a recent report.

According to the report, real estate companies will not risk raising prices, extending payment methods, or even reducing installment terms, as the market competition is overpowering.

However, “If developers could not push through the recent price upsurges via their existing projects, it is foreseen that the trend will be influenced on either freshly-launched developments or new phases of existing ones,” the Emirati firm emphasized. It concluded that, as a consequence, this will certainly curb the volume of sales and may eventually lead to the exclusion of small-sized companies in the market.

Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced on July 5 raising fuel prices between 16% and 30%, marking the latest round of fuel subsidy cuts. Being the second rise since the EGP flotation in November 2016, these slashes are part of a three-year loan accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country’s economy.