CityScape's annual real estate conference kicked off on Wednesday under the title "The Roadmap toward Innovation".
The conference will be held over two consecutive days, and will be followed by a four-day CityScape exhibition, the largest real estate investment and property show in Egypt.
During the exhibition, the companies are expected to unveil hundreds of real estate investment opportunities for buyers at varying prices, as well as the latest international developments in the field of real estate.
Ninety major real estate developers in Egypt will be participating in the event.
Some of the exhibitors at this year’s event include: Al Arabia Real Estate Development (ARCO), Palm Hills, PACT, Aloula Tameer For Mortgage Finance, Aristo Developers, Beta Egypt for Urban Development, Brouj Property Management, Capital Group Properties, Egyptian Engineering Development and Real Estate Investment, El-Batal Group, Emaar Misr, Invest4Land (API Investment), Madaar Development, Pandora Investments Public Ltd-Leptos Estates, Rooya Group, Talaat Mostafa Group Holding, Tatweer Misr, Trends Real Estate, and Wadi Degla Developments to name a few.
The agenda of the conference addresses project financing, marketing and design, and addresses emerging trends redefining investment opportunities in Egypt.
During the opening session of the conference, Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs Khaled Abbas said that holding the conference and exhibition in Egypt for the sixth year reflects the confidence in the strength of the Egyptian real estate market and its ability to face any economic or political challenges.
Driven by huge domestic demand, Egypt will be the standout market globally for mortgages in 2017, according to a March report by Euromonitor International.
The research agency identified the top three global markets for 2017 according to the fastest growth rates in mortgaged households, with Egypt topping the list, followed by Algeria and Nigeria.
According to Euromonitor, Africa and the Middle East are home finance hotspots, due to their large and growing populations that seek infrastructure and residential units to resolve urban housing shortages.
Egypt is expected to see an annual expansion of 18.9 percent in mortgaged households in 2017 alone, with forecasts that just under 300,000 households are expected to be owned through a mortgage this year. The news follows a report by Euromonitor, earlier this month, that Cairo’s population is set to grow by half a million this year, more than any other city in the world. Egypt's population currently sits at about 92 million. Demand for housing stands to be exacerbated by Egypt’s demographic structure.
“Following the economic overhaul over the last few months, Egypt is seeing signs of a recovery and with that confidence in the market. The real estate sector, and in particular the residential sector – one of the most promising in Egypt – is being driven by strong demand from a young and continuously growing population looking to purchase their own homes. For these Egyptians, the dream of owning a home is the surest and safest method of investment and establishing a basis in real estate wealth,” says Tom Rhodes, exhibition director for Cityscape Egypt which is taking place from March 31 to April 3 at the Cairo International Convention Centre.
Visitors to the four-day exhibiton will have a chance to meet developers, who will offer special promotions on residential units and complexes; and property consultants, who will dispense advice.
On the the first day of the conference, many heads of real estate companies and representatives of the private sector participated in discussions and workshops and discussed the vision of the private sector to achieve sustainable development, reduce construction costs, and increase efficiency to overcome the financial crisis.
The Housing Ministry plans to launch the second phase of partnership projects with the private sector before the end of the fiscal year in June, Abbas said, pointing out that Urban Communities Authority had delayed the second phase until it makes sure that the first phase was on the right track.
Cityscape Egypt is owned by Informa Exhibitions. Informa Exhibitions delivers over 220 trade and consumer exhibitions annually across the globe. Cityscape first took place in 2002 in Dubai and since then, it has grown to be the largest real estate event brand globally, with events taking place across the GCC, Middle East, Asia and Turkey. Since its launch, Cityscape has welcomed over 500,000 real estate professionals and investors from over 160 countries.
