Egypt to pour new housing into seemingly sated market

Egypt’s government plans to pour tens of thousands of new housing units onto the market in each of the next few years, but it’s not clear how easily the country can absorb them.

The authorities say they want to reduce crowding in Egypt’s congested cities and provide homes for the poor but many analysts say the new residences are priced way beyond the means of most Egyptians and a good share of them will remain unsold.

The government is undeterred, however, and is moving full steam ahead on a new capital city 50 km east of Cairo, a project that will designed to deliver 240,000 new housing units over the next five years.

It is also in the second year of a five-year plan to provide a million subsidized homes for the poor. According to press reports, 150,000 low-income units have already been delivered and another 260,000 are under construction.