Egypt moves closer to establishing a federation of real estate developers

The establishment of an Egyptian federation of real estate developers is gaining momentum after an industry roundtable brought together senior government officials, developers and specialists to examine the role a professional body could play in representing developers, supporting self-regulation and improving cooperation with regulators.

Invest-Gate held its 29th roundtable under the title "Towards an Egyptian Real Estate Developers Federation" as the government works on a draft law regulating the real estate market and establishing the proposed professional body. The draft covers developer registration and classification, professional standards, governance, representation, customer protection and the regulation of development activity.

Amr ElKady, founder and managing director of AKD Advisory, said the discussions rest on three pillars: the draft law, previous proposals on the federation, and Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2184 of 2022. Khaled Sedeik, chairperson of the Urban Development Fund, said that four years after the decree there is a need to translate its provisions into a comprehensive legal framework reflecting market changes, noting that the sector contributes about 20 percent of national output. He called for clear and fair criteria for classifying developers by project size, financial and technical capability and experience - a system participants said would also give banks clearer information when assessing companies and projects.

Tarek Shoukry, chairperson of the Real Estate Development Industry Chamber and of the House of Representatives' economic affairs committee, said the federation could regulate the market through developer classification, buyer protection and dispute resolution. Financing dominated the discussion: Sedeik called for diversified financing mechanisms disbursed in tranches linked to project implementation rates, and for greater availability of financing from the early stages of projects, while May Abdel Hamid, chief executive of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, said the number of financing entities participating in mortgage initiatives has grown from three or four banks to more than 31 and called for a House Price Index.

Tarek Azmy Elsheikh, director of the Urban Training and Studies Institute at the National Housing and Building Research Center, said stronger legal protection, secure property titles, a National Real Estate Identification Number and an electronic real estate registry would be needed to strengthen market confidence. He noted that Egypt ranked 61st in the 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index, against 28th for Saudi Arabia and 17th for Dubai, and identified institutional regulation, the legal framework and financial safeguards as areas requiring development, including escrow accounts and greater disclosure.

Simon Walley, lead financial sector specialist at the World Bank, described international experience in managing real estate market risk, citing China's use of independent escrow accounts for individual projects, with customer funds separated from developers' other activities so completion rates can be monitored and authorities can respond to delays. Raymond Ahdy, chief executive of Wadi Degla, backed escrow accounts while stressing the need to address currency movements and construction costs, and questioned whether the federation should act as a regulator or a self-regulatory organisation. Tarek ElGamal, chairperson of Redcon Properties, proposed an independently funded federation established as an Egyptian joint-stock company that could invest in data infrastructure and artificial intelligence.