The River Nile in Egypt

It certainly has the ingredients: a benign climate, a Mediterranean coastline, a strong tourist industry, good infrastructure and plenty of low cost airlines flying there on a daily basis make the country an attractive proposition for investors.

Egypt also has some of the lowest property prices found anywhere in or around the Mediterranean, so now really is the time to investigate everything this wonderful country has to offer.

Egypt Profile
Capital City: Cairo
Area: 980,869 sq km
Population: 80,335,000
Time Zone: GMT +2
Country dialing code: +20
Currency: Egyptian Pound (EGP)

Egypt Climate
Don’t expect much rain in Egypt. Once you are south of Cairo, you are effectively in Sahara territory where, at most, rainfall of less than one inch per year can be expected; often at intervals of many years. The Mediterranean coast is the wettest, but only for a couple of months each year (November to February) while temperatures are uniformly high throughout the country, peaking at an average of 43c in the summer along the Red Sea Coast, and falling to 13c in the northern areas in winter. Spring time sees Egypt suffer the Khamaseen – a desert wind which brings sand storms and extremely high temperatures to southern areas.

View from Cairo Tower

Egypt Property
While Cairo and Luxor attract their fair amount of tourists, it is the beachside resorts and towns of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada that attract the typical holidaymaker in search of fun in the sun, and it is here where the property boom is taking shape. With their established holiday resorts catering for all class of holidaymaker, the abundance of low-cost flights and an infrastructure that would not look out of place on the Costa del Sol (think beachfront restaurants, hotels, bars, shopping centres and plenty of buzz and activity), Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada have everything going for them.

Take all the above; add affordability and an increasing standard of build quality and transparency and what do you get? A growing overseas property market. For less than €100,000, investors can acquire new-build two bedroom apartments in Hurghada; often front line to the beach. In addition, off-plan apartments are even cheaper, with many studios and one-bedroom units retailing for less than €20,000. With no capital gains tax in Egypt, investors can realistically look to double their money before completion, or simply hold on to the property and enjoy a well-appointed second home in one of the most beautiful resorts in North Africa.

Sharm El Sheikh is effectively Hurghada’s older, more established brother. It has been a popular tourist resort for decades and so boasts an excellent infrastructure and a number of resale properties available. Expect to pay slightly more here - €130,000 should get you a well-located two bedroom apartment, but prices have been rising steadily, at a rate of 8% on average. Rental returns in both resorts are solid, with figures of 8%-9% not uncommon. Other resorts growing in popularity include El Gouna, El Alamein and Sahl Hasheesh, which boasts the exclusive Desert Pearl and Egyptian Pearl developments.

Egypt Flights
Most major UK airports have daily flights to Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh, usually serviced by one or two of the low-cost airlines, such as easyJet, Monarch and Flybe. British Airways has a number of charter flights to Cairo and Luxor, while Virgin flies from Gatwick and Heathrow. In low season, it is possible to acquire return flights to Sharm El Sheikh for approximately €200 or less, making the destination an ideal winter getaway – buy-to-letters take note!