Land of the Pharaohs

What should be a concern however, is Egypt's building standards. A recent Arabian Business Property survey found that 55% of those interviewed thought that building standards were below international standards - this was the most negative response out of the seven Arab nations within the study.

A quick search of some Egyptian property forums on the web and you will find many purchasers who disagree with this and are delighted with the standards in their newly completed apartments and villas, nonetheless building standards should not be glossed over and in particular the foundations.

Egypt is not a stranger to earthquakes, lying on a major fault line, therefore it's essential to protect your future investment that you undertake your own structural survey before purchasing. On the plus side however, satisfaction with price had the highest volume of positive answers in the survey alongside Bahrain.

Another problem to be aware of is property registration, approximately only 10% of properties in Egypt are actually registered.

A recent report by the Institute of Liberal Democracy highlighted why; according to the president of the Institute, Hernando de Soto's research, the legal process to acquire permission to build property and then officially acquire the title deed to the land on which the property has been built requires no less than 77 bureaucratic procedures at 31 different agencies and it can take anywhere between six and 11 years.

This also explains why mortgage lending is so low in Egypt as a property has to be registered before a bank will consider lending. The good news however, is that the fee to register a property has come down from 12% of the purchase value to 3%.

So where should you buy in Egypt and who should you buy from? The development is concentrated to specific areas and in a country where 99% of the population uses only 5.5% of the total land area, this is not surprising.

The hub of it all is in Hurghada, along the Red Sea coast where there is a mass expansion of freehold properties; 24 new developments with 80 km north and south of Marsa Alam the new International Airport.

Here you'll find projects by all the major names. Damac recently launched their Gamsha Bay project, the creation of a new town in North Hurghada, described as "320 million sq ft of leisure along the Red Sea."

Qudra has also announced their intention to develop in Egypt, most likely concentrating in the Hurghada region. El Gouna in the Northern region of Hurghada is currently marketed as one of the most expensive places to buy property in Egypt.

Built along 10 km of beach by Orascom, (one of the larger developers in Egypt) the town houses 10,000 people with a mix of apartments and 2000 villas. Many wealthy Egyptians own holiday homes in El Gouna and re-sales are highly sought after.

Orascom recently picked up an award at The 2008 Cityscape Real Estate Awards in Abu Dhabi for El Gouna in the Best Developer-Waterfront Development category.

Another of Orascom's success stories is Taba Heights, overlooking the Sinai Peninsula, known for its spectacular coral reefs, however, unlike along the Red Sea, on the Sinai Peninsula there are no freehold properties, only leaseholds.

Back to Hurghada and we see many developers trying to emulate El Gouna's success. Serennia, a 650-acre golf resort and marina with villas available up to US$1.87m and marketed as the "world's most exclusive waterside address" with "Cairo two hours away by helicopter" will eventually have 736 residential units.

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