Ahmed ElBatrawy: The Growing Talk About a Potential Real Estate Bubble Calls for Strong State Leadership to Regulate and Stabilize the Market

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Ahmed ElBatrawy, Founder of Misr Real Estate Platform and an expert in real estate development and market regulation, has warned that the rising discourse around a “potential real estate bubble” in Egypt is no longer mere media speculation. It is a clear indication of structural imbalances that require decisive government intervention to restore stability.
ElBatrawy emphasized that the future of Egypt’s real estate market cannot be secured through promises or reassuring statements alone, but through comprehensive structural and legislative reforms that ensure transparency and restore the state’s leadership role in regulating the sector.
He explained that optimistic media narratives cannot address the growing concerns about a real estate bubble, as the core of the issue lies not only in supply, demand, or pricing, but also in the governance system itself, and who holds decision-making power within the market.
He added, “As long as real estate forums remain limited to developers and stakeholders, genuine reform will remain out of reach, because those who benefit from the imbalance cannot be the ones to fix it.”
ElBatrawy noted that the government has already begun taking serious steps to regulate the market through new legislation aimed at protecting consumers and preventing manipulation, calling for the continuation and expansion of these efforts across all levels of the sector.
A Supreme Real Estate Authority: A National Necessity
ElBatrawy proposed the establishment of the “Supreme Egyptian Real Estate Authority”, an independent body with both executive and legislative powers to oversee the entire sector and create balanced policies that serve the interests of citizens, investors, and developers alike.
He explained that this authority should include representatives from government institutions, the private sector, civil society, and the Financial Regulatory Authority, forming a comprehensive oversight system that supervises all stages of real estate development, from planning to handover.
He added that the authority’s role should go beyond oversight to ensuring balance and fair governance among all parties. This could be achieved through unified contracts, clear advertising regulations, and prohibiting direct cash transactions by requiring developers to use escrow accounts monitored by government authorities.
ElBatrawy affirmed that Egyptian real estate is a national asset that must be managed through a modern digital framework. He stressed that the proposed authority should rely on full digital transformation to register every sales and financing transaction in a unified national database, enabling real-time market monitoring and full transparency.
Mortgage Financing: A Banking Responsibility, Not a Developer’s
ElBatrawy called for restructuring the mortgage financing system so that financing responsibilities shift from developers to banks, as they are the only entities legally and financially qualified to manage such operations.
“It is illogical,” he said, “for developers to offer financing schemes without regulatory oversight or official licenses, while in global markets, such practices are exclusively managed by banks.”
He pointed out that the market currently suffers from a lack of transparency in certain long-term installment agreements that are not formally documented to protect buyers’ rights. He urged the Financial Regulatory Authority to require developers to obtain prior licenses before introducing any financial or installment products.
Technology and Governance: The Road to Market Stability
ElBatrawy stressed that digital transformation and comprehensive governance are the keys to rescuing the market from chaos, noting that real estate today has evolved into a fully integrated industry that requires precise financial and regulatory digital systems enabling the state to monitor every transaction in real time.
He added that establishing a unified electronic platform for recording real estate contracts and transactions would be a game-changer, as it would reveal true supply-and-demand indicators and prevent market violations before they escalate.
ElBatrawy highlighted that the government is already moving in this direction through advanced regulatory and legislative steps, calling for continued support and acceleration of these efforts to make the Egyptian real estate market more stable and attractive to both local and foreign investors.
He concluded, “When the state takes the lead and the market operates through a structured digital mindset, we will witness a real estate industry built on transparency and good governance , a fair, stable, and secure market for everyone.”