Set as a major portal to both Africa and the Middle East, Cairo is looking to establish itself further by capitalising upon recent improvements in its local economy to bolster its housing market and potentially see large increases in property value in 2010. This could mean a potential cost-effective investment for international housing buyers looking to diversify their investment portfolio.

The primary drive behind Cairo’s success and anticipated continued development in the coming year is not speculative as many other markets but is entirely driven by the actual needs of the local area for both residency and tourism. This is causing strong increases in value for residential as well as office, hotel and commercial sectors across the city as the over-focus and saturation of luxury housing is dwindling in lieu of comprehensive development across urban sectors.

Having a strong focus in locally on a cash-based system as many developing areas do Cairo is now branching more into a combination of modern and developing society, allowing for those who are willing to take on a mortgage to have strong potential purchasing power in the area. This is designed to attract additional investors who are looking at taking out overseas mortgages to invest in the area for development and capitalise on the growth that is occurring rapidly.

While this may not be the best option for first-time buyers who are not ready to accept some risk along with their investments this is still a keen opportunity for others who are looking to diversify their earnings potential by looking elsewhere for both short- and long-term sustainable returns on investment that they may not find by looking purely at a domestic market. At the same time if the world economy does not pick up in the coming months this will most likely be a longer-term investment that needs to be weighed out before committing to it completely, as increasing property value will be more dependent upon the city’s overall development and an increase in foreign interest that might not pick up until a few years in the future.