Cairo – Mubasher: Cairo’s real estate market has maintained a positive performance in the first quarter of 2019, according to a report by JLL Egypt.
The residential sector has witnessed a shift from sales to rentals in Q1-19, marking a solid growth in rental rates supported by the limited supply of rental property in Greater Cairo, the report highlighted.
Some individuals have shifted to the rentals as primary sale prices hit record levels, whereas others tend to move into temporary homes until the delivery of their off-plan units, JLL said.
Moreover, the office sector in the Egyptian capital has seen strong growth levels in Q1-19 on the back of the positive performance of integrated office parks within residential gated communities, the report indicated.
JLL noted that the demand for flexible offices and co-working spaces in Cairo is “booming”, pointing out that rents are likely to improve further in West Cairo when the Grand Egyptian Museum becomes fully operational in 2020.
As for the retail rents, they were stable during the first three months of 2019, however, they have increased over the past year and are expected to see further growth over the year, the property investment management company added.
Furthermore, vacancies are projected to grow during the year, the report revealed, noting that the gradual increase in consumer spending power may drive more rental growth.
The report highlighted that the New Administrative Capital has attracted developers to expand their presence and planned retail projects, in a bid to keep up with the accelerating consumer demand.
Additionally, the hotel and tourism sector in Cairo has witnessed healthy growth levels as occupancy rates rose 4 basis points to 77% in the year-to-February 2019, JLL said.
The sports tourism is expected to contribute to the hotel sector’s growth in Q3-19 in line with Egypt hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the company remarked.
Ayman Sami, country head of JLL Egypt, said: “The real estate market in Egypt witnessed a strong start to the year with healthy demand levels and all sectors remaining in the upturn stage of their cycle.”
“The country continues to benefit from the positive sentiment created by planned cities and projects. We anticipate these projects to not only continue driving domestic demand, but also to attract significant international investments in the months to come,” he continued.
(JLL Country Head- Egypt Ayman Sami)
The robust growth in the sector and the positive sentiment were backed by the affluent measures taken to improve security and promote tourism, in addition to investors demand across all sectors, according to the report.
On Sunday, Ayman Sami told Mubasher that Egypt currently works on the development of 20 new cities to accommodate more than 30 million people over an area of 2.4 million square kilometres.
