Egyptian Real Estate faces challenges with low registration rates: EBA

Approximately 95% of real estate in Egypt is unregistered, with the First Vice-Chairperson of the Real Estate Development and Contracting Committee at Egyptian Businessmen Association warning that this lack of registration would have significant repercussions on real estate wealth and market development.

Alaa Fekry emphasized that the lack of registered real estate delayed the establishment of a healthy database within the local market, obstructing the achievement of vital national objectives such as property exports and attracting foreign investments.

The low registration rates stemmed from a combination of bureaucracy and lengthy procedures, he explained. To address this issue, the government had taken measures to combat the persistently low rates; these included the amendment of Real Estate Registration Law No. 114/1946, and Law No. 177/2022, as well as the introduction of Law No. 9/2022.

According to Fekry, the real estate market requires an advanced integrated online system capable of organizing all real estate transactions, which would have facilitated seamless monitoring of buying and selling activities, as well as enabled efficient tracking of available projects in the local market. By establishing a comprehensive database, the sector could have effectively safeguarded its real estate wealth.

Fekry further highlighted the need for procedural changes, citing the successful implementation of the land sale system by the New Urban Communities Authority as a positive example that had benefited the real estate sector.

“We need to facilitate procedures and change the ideas of some employees, which have contributed over the past years to limiting the use of facilities granted by the state to create an attractive investment climate. Moreover, facilitating land registration procedures will have an important role in easing the buyer’s task in registering units,” Fekry added.

Additionally, creating a comprehensive database is crucial for the success of real estate exports, he went on to say, pointing out that the database would showcase the market's size, the number of projects available, and the various investment opportunities. This would support developers by providing data to ensure the successful completion of projects.

The committee First Vice-Chairperson closes the statement by highlighting the importance of digitizing property documents through a government database, emphasizing that it would boost confidence among foreign buyers, facilitating trade and expediting the transfer of ownership to international investors within a significantly shorter timeframe.