Egypt

Egypt is known above all for its ancient history on the banks of the Nile. Here stand the pyramids of Giza, built around 2580-2560 BC, the temples of ancient Thebes in Luxor and the rock temples of Abu Simbel, created under Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. Islamic Cairo preserves hundreds of mosques, mausoleums and madrasas, and in the Sinai mountains stands St Catherine's Monastery, built in the 6th century and considered the oldest of the working Christian monasteries. The country opened the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2025, next to the pyramids. The climate is mainly desert: hot dry summers and moderately cool winters. The Red Sea coast attracts with its underwater nature and the Giftun Islands, and in the south of Sinai lies the Ras Mohammed National Park, created in 1983.

What to see and how far it is from our places

• Historic Cairo (UNESCO). Historic, or Islamic, Cairo: the central part of the city, built from the Muslim conquest of Egypt until the city's expansion in the 19th century. It has hundreds of mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fortress walls. A UNESCO site since 1979. New Administrative Capital 47 km, Ras El Hekma 352 km, El Gouna 378 km.
• Pyramids of Giza (UNESCO). A complex of pyramids on the western edge of Cairo: the Great Pyramid was built around 2580-2560 BC. Beside it stand the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx. A UNESCO site since 1979. New Administrative Capital 60 km, Ras El Hekma 343 km, El Gouna 380 km.
• St Catherine's Monastery (UNESCO). A Greek Orthodox monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula. Construction was completed in 565 under Emperor Justinian I, and it is considered the oldest of the working Christian monasteries. A UNESCO site since 2002. Sharm el-Sheikh 79 km, El Gouna 133 km, Hurghada 145 km.
• Wadi El Hitan (Whale Valley) (UNESCO). A palaeontological site in Faiyum governorate, about 150 km south-west of Cairo, with hundreds of fossils of early whales. The area is about 200 square kilometres. A UNESCO site since 2005. New Administrative Capital 170 km, Ras El Hekma 307 km.
• Abu Mena (UNESCO). A late antique city and monastic complex about 50 km south-west of Alexandria, a centre of Christian pilgrimage. The area is about 84 hectares. A UNESCO site since 1979. Ras El Hekma 178 km, New Administrative Capital 220 km.
• Ancient Thebes (UNESCO). The ancient city of Waset, whose ruins lie in modern Luxor: the temples of Karnak and Luxor on the east bank of the Nile and the necropolis on the west. The city covered about 93 square kilometres. A UNESCO site since 1979. Makadi Bay 191 km, Hurghada 209 km, El Gouna 213 km.
• Abu Simbel temples (UNESCO). Two temple complexes cut into the rock in the south of the country near the border with Sudan under Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. At the entrance of the large temple sit four statues of the pharaoh about 20 metres high. In 1968 the whole complex was moved to a higher site. A UNESCO site since 1979.
• Giftun Islands. Two islands in the Red Sea not far from Hurghada. Nearer the city lies the western island, Giftun Kebir, and east of it Giftun Soraya. Hurghada 13 km, Makadi Bay 25 km, El Gouna 31 km.
• Ras Mohammed National Park. A national park at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Created in 1983. The area is about 480 square kilometres, of which about 345 is sea. Sharm el-Sheikh 20 km, El Gouna 68 km, Hurghada 69 km.
• Grand Egyptian Museum. A national archaeological museum in Giza devoted to ancient Egyptian civilisation. Opened on 1 November 2025, with more than 100 thousand items in the collection. It stands not far from the pyramids of Giza. New Administrative Capital 61 km, Ras El Hekma 341 km, El Gouna 383 km.

Open and simple where ordinary residential complexes are sold:

• Hurghada, El Gouna, Makadi Bay, the New Administrative Capital, Ras El Hekma: full ownership of a home. Hurghada is recorded from the official guide, the other places from agency pages.
• The overall limit under Law 230/1996: no more than two residential properties of 4,000 sq m each. Resale is allowed five years after registration; the Prime Minister may grant an exception.
• Buying through an Egyptian company allows a larger number of properties to be held. It is used for commercial property and large portfolios (official guide).

Restrictions:

• Sharm el-Sheikh (Sinai): usufruct for up to 75 years with the possibility of extension; Presidential Decree 128/2022 prohibits full ownership. This is from an agency page; we have not read the official one.
• El Gouna, the New Capital: renovation is agreed with the developer; in the New Capital an engineer from the Engineers Syndicate is also required.

Buying:

Example for $100,000: at the upper limit of 6%, the one-off costs come to up to $6,000.

Under the law the 2.5% transfer tax is paid by the seller, and the buyer's share is zero (Law 151/2026, Official Gazette of 28 July 2026). In practice the parties sometimes agree otherwise.

Here two sources differ. The registry guide gives registration as shares of the price, while Law 83/2006, according to a newspaper summary, limits the duty to a fixed sum of 2,000 Egyptian pounds per transaction, and newer pages name up to 3,900. We give both figures and do not choose between them. We will convert the sums in pounds into dollars at the current rate on request.

A new build in residential complexes, according to a law firm's analysis, is exempt from VAT; the complex's services (maintenance, security, cleaning) are taxed at the general rate.

Holding: the property tax is 10% of the annual rental value after a 30% deduction for housing. This is from a legal portal page; the exemption applies only to the family's main home.

Sale:

• The 2.5% tax on the full transaction price, without deductions, is paid by the seller within 60 days (Law 151/2026). Villages are excluded.
• Transferring proceeds abroad is restricted, according to a law firm page. We have not yet found the rules on the central bank's official page.
• A five-year holding period before resale (see section 1).

• Long-term is open to foreign owners without a limit on term. Law 164/2025 applies to all residential contracts; in Hurghada the contract is registered and tax registration is required. In El Gouna this is rather a resort market, and letting is usually done through a management company.
• Short-term. A "Holiday Home" licence from the Ministry of Tourism is needed, renewed every year (Decree 209/2025), together with the consent of the complex's management company. There is no single law; supervision, according to a law firm page, is weak.
• Yield. For apartments in complexes in Cairo and the New Capital an agency page quotes 4-7% a year before costs; this is a market estimate, not official data.

Tax on rental income (Law 91/2005 as amended by 175/2023, net income per year, column up to 600k):

Rent is taxed after a 50% deduction for all costs. For higher incomes the steps shift. We have not separately checked that the scale applies to a non-resident. On top of it, a property tax of about 10% is paid (see section 2).

This is tax in Egypt. Tax in the investor's country of residence is calculated separately.

• Residence permit: a property purchase from $200k from an accredited developer, for one to five years with renewal. A dependent spouse and children are included in the application. This is from a law firm page.
• Citizenship: according to an agency page, on a property purchase from $300k or a donation from $250k. The processing time is quoted as six to nine months. We will provide official confirmation on request.

There is no housing price index for Egypt in our base, so we do not build the four rows with inflation adjustment and in dollars. The exchange rate of the pound has fluctuated: a central bank page of 6 March 2024 says the rate is set by the market; an Atlantic Council piece describes a managed rate, capital restrictions and sharp devaluations, the last in 2024. We give both descriptions and do not choose between them.

The directory has 40 districts: Sharm el-Sheikh 10, the New Administrative Capital 9, Hurghada 8, El Gouna 6, Ras El Hekma 4, Makadi Bay 3.

Price read from a page (asking price, not a deal price):

We will provide the conversion into dollars at the current rate on request.

What can be seen:

• El Gouna: the Tuban project of 1m sq m in the centre of the resort (townhouses, apartments, villas), first handovers from Q1 2027.
• Makadi Bay: Makadi Heights, about 3.7m sq m; the same page names a land bank of 4m, and the sources differ. The commercial zone is 278,750 sq m according to a Savills study (June 2023).
• New Capital: district R3 with 24,130 residential units on 1,016 feddan (August 2021). Diplomatic district: 212 villas and 1,120 apartments in the plan (May 2026); whether they are sold to private buyers is not stated.

• Allowed for foreigners from developers within the limits of Law 230/1996.
• If the delay is more than 24 months, the buyer may cancel the contract and get the money back (Decree 2184/2022, law firm page).
• In Sharm el-Sheikh a developer's guarantee of 3-20% and a penalty for delay are named.
• In Hurghada the right is registered only after the house is handed over; delays there are frequent, and penalties are fixed in the contract.

The directory has 8 developers: Emaar Misr, La Vista Developments, Mountain View, Orascom Development Holding, Palm Hills Developments, PromoSharm Real Estate Development, SODIC, Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG).

Listings: Aqarmap, Bayut Egypt, Belmazad, Dubizzle Egypt, Nawy, PropertyFinder Egypt, the official platform realestate.gov.eg, the El Gouna property section.

What a foreigner may buy. Through an Egyptian company, yes, according to the official guide; the company may be wholly owned by a foreigner. In Hurghada, according to a law firm page, direct purchase by an individual is closed and a company is needed. Under Law 230/1996, as summarised by a law firm, the purpose of the property is housing or licensed trading activity. The official guide at the same time describes such properties as residential, so the procedure for a specific property is checked by a lawyer. In Sharm el-Sheikh a 75-year usufruct is offered for shops, cafes and offices.

How it differs from housing.

• The annual property tax is 10% of the rental value after a 32% deduction for non-residential premises (30% for housing). This is from a developer-portal page of July 2026. We have not confirmed the exemption threshold for non-residential premises after the 2026 amendments.
• Tax on rent, VAT on rent and the usual lease term will be provided on request.

Rent and vacancy, Cairo.

Knight Frank gives an office rate rise of about 20% over the year in pounds and about 2% in dollars. Another summary of Knight Frank gives office vacancy as 9.4% for Q2 2026. The retail figure refers to large regional shopping centres, not individual shops.

Where it is concentrated. New Capital: the Central Business District and Financial District, Downtown (shops, offices). El Gouna: Downtown and the business district. Hurghada: Sahl Hasheesh. Makadi Bay: Souk Makadi. Ras El Hekma: the central business district (planned). Sharm el-Sheikh: Naama Bay with cafes, restaurants and shops.

Agency figures describe the upper part of the market, not what a private investor usually buys.