The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has revealed that mortgage finance contracts deceased to 2,345 contracts worth EGP 4.3bn in the first half (1H) of this year, compared to about 5,540 contracts worth EGP 7.3bn during the same period last year, with a 57.7% decline in number of contracts and 41% drop in their total value.
Meanwhile, many citizens complained about the lack of real estate units that meet the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) mortgage finance initiatives’ conditions due to high prices. Many citizens could only finance part of their units’ costs and paid the rest on their own.
Sara Soliman, who searches for an apartment that meets CBE’s mortgage finance initiatives’ conditions, said that unit prices do not reflect their areas and locations.
Naddi Hadi, who obtained a mortgage with 3% rate, said it was not easy at all, as the bank takes a long time to approve the mortgage, adding: “It took me four months to find a suitable apartment and 45 days to get the bank’s approval, and it took two and a half months to complete required procedures.
Because of the complexity of the bank’s procedures and the required papers for mortgage, many of clients resorted to intermediary companies to implement the required procedures.