Real estate financing in Egypt 82% up this year: Financial regulator

Real estate financing in Egypt has grown by 82 percent during the first eight months of 2015, Egypt’s financial regulator announced Tuesday.

Real estate financing firms have granted 611 million Egyptian pounds in financing to their clients in from January to August 2015, up from 380 million pounds in the same period of the previous year, said Egyptian Financial Regulatory Agency (EFSA) head Sherif Samy in a statement.

The majority of clients earn a monthly income of over 3,000 pounds, and who represented 83 percent of borrowers during the same period. The vast majority of borrowers, 96 percent, were aspiring home-owners.

With a fast growing population currently standing at just under 90 million, Egypt has long suffered from a shortage of affordable housing.

The total outstanding loans amounted of the companies amounted to 2.5 billion pounds by August 2015.

The value of leasing contracts also grew by 223 percent compared to the first 8 months of 2014, to reach 12.7 billion pounds, said EFSA.

In August, EFSA issued new regulations on real estate financing in response to a rapid growth in the sector limiting the value covered by the loan to 90 percent of the property’s value or the collateral, and limiting payment installments to 40 percent of the borrower’s income and 35 percent for low-income debtors.

Source: Ahram Online