New expo to be held in London later this month
Property investors are overlooking Egypt, a market that offers more than 300 days of sunshine a year, a 1,200-kilometre coastline, established resort infrastructure and significantly lower property prices than many Mediterranean destinations, according to Dr Bassem Kalila, chairman of the Nile Property Expo, which is coming to London later this month.
The expo will make its UK debut at the Hilton on Park Lane on 27–28 June, with more than 15 leading Egyptian developers showcasing residential, coastal and investment opportunities across the country.
Dr Bassem Kalila, chairman of Expo Republic and Nile Property Expo, said: “Ask a British buyer where they are looking for a second home or an overseas investment property and you will hear the same answers. The Algarve. The Costa del Sol. Tuscany. Lake Como if they are feeling ambitious.
“These are fine markets. They are also expensive, crowded, and in many cases offering yields and capital growth that have been compressing for years as British and northern European money has piled in.”
Prices a third of the Med
By contrast, Egypt offers property prices that in many cases are a third or a quarter of comparable Mediterranean developments, he said.
“Egypt is not undiscovered. Gulf investors know it well. The Saudis, the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis have been active there for decades. It is specifically British buyers who have been absent, and that absence is increasingly difficult to justify on any financial basis.”
With a range of location opportunities, he said the appetite for property extends beyond resort apartments and second homes thanks to the country’s young, urban population. “That demographic energy translates directly into property demand,” said Kalila.
“A population growing by over two million people a year, 70% of them under thirty-five, needs homes, offices, retail and hospitality at a scale and pace that few markets can match. For investors thinking beyond a holiday apartment, Egypt offers the kind of structural demand story that mature European markets simply cannot.”
Kalila said the Nile Property Expo will be the largest showcase of Egyptian real estate ever staged in the UK. “It is a serious investment event bringing together Egypt’s leading developers, government representation at ministerial level, and legal and financial advisers in one place, specifically for British buyers, investors and business partners who want to understand the market properly before deciding whether it belongs in their portfolio.”