Egypt's real estate sector is undergoing a comprehensive transformation to enhance transparency, standardize practices, and attract foreign investment, according to Ahmed Ibrahim, vice chairperson of the New Urban Communities Authority for planning and projects and deputy minister of housing.
Ahmed Ibrahim, vice chairperson of the New Urban Communities Authority for planning and projects and deputy minister of housing, utilities, and urban communities, outlined efforts to modernize Egypt's real estate sector at the AmCham Egypt Annual Real Estate Conference titled "Egypt Rising: Real Estate as a Regional Powerhouse" on Tuesday. The reforms emphasize tightening regulations, digitizing procedures, and tackling structural challenges that have undermined investor confidence and market efficiency.
Ibrahim highlighted the need for strict professional licensing for real estate practitioners, drawing on Canada's model that mandates training courses and allows license revocation for violations. Efforts are also progressing to standardize real estate measurements, particularly distinguishing between net and gross areas, to promote transparency and resolve discrepancies among developers, consultants, municipalities, and the real estate registry.
To tackle this, a centralized real estate database is under development, accessible online and displaying property values in Egyptian pounds and U.S. dollars to aid feasibility studies. He disclosed the rollout of a unified digital platform for real estate exports, coordinated with the ministries of communications, justice, and interior, which will connect municipal authorities to the real estate registry, enabling non-Egyptian buyers to purchase and register properties through a streamlined, transparent process.
Furthermore, the "Urban Observatory" under the New Urban Communities Authority will be activated to gather and analyze urban data from new cities, serving as a vital reference for investors and policymakers. According to Ibrahim, these combined reforms in regulation, digitization, and data standardization are poised to establish Egypt's real estate market as a more transparent, organized, and investor-friendly hub.