The Red Sea ; a Real Estate Paradise
Real estate is a complex industry , where many aspects come into play . One of the most important aspects of real estate is the location . The market , and the way it functions , differ depending on the place . That is why it was imperative to talk to Maryana Metry from RE / MAX RELAX in Hurghada , to find out more about the real estate industry there , and how RE / MAX can add to the market in such a fascinating destination .
There was a drop in the real estate market in Hurghada . Why did it happen ? And is it over or not yet
After the revolution , some hotels could not handle the drop in tourists ’ numbers with the low occupancy , so they laid off a large number of their workforce who reside in the Red Sea Governorate . This resulted in a big drop in the Hurghada and Red Sea population . Subsequently , the demand on residential units dropped . Things started to get better , until the Russian plane incident ; this affected us badly . Which caused the loss of a huge sector of the foreign guests who live in Hurghada ; as some guests bought houses in Hurghada to live in for six months per year , or as a retirement second home . This reflected on us in terms of sales . It was harder to overcome than the results of the revolution . This year things started to get better , when the flight ban was lifted and even they increased their seats capacity , hence it had a very positive impact on the number of the tourists from different countries . They managed to support the hotels and started investing in the real estate , too . With the improvement of the hotel occupancy and things becoming more stable , this gave people a sense of security , and made them feel like they can safely invest in this country with a good return . So , we started selling more . And as hotels started to run a good occupancy which enabled many job opportunities in all the departments , suppliers and different sectors , where by return the sale and the rental services started to grow . Also , after the currency floating exchange rates , foreigners now have perfect opportunities for investment that weren ’ t there before . This created new opportunities for us to sell , and now we have a good sector of the foreign markets to work with .
What do you do differently depending on this market fluctuation
Our career in real estate in such a destination is related directly to tourism . Any drop in tourism quickly affects real estate . If someone is making a deposit for a unit and they are about to buy it , a small piece of news might make them rethink taking their decision . We work directly on this , we spend more on the marketing and campaigns . When these drops happen , they usually affect a specific market , so we start directing our marketing to the other markets . For example , when there is a drop related to the foreign market , the local market can support us ; Egyptians start buying when the prices drop and become affordable to them . If the Russian market is affected , we start looking into increasing our share of the English or German markets . We contact lots of places online with live pictures , showing what life is like in Hurghada with its safety and beautiful weather . We market the destination itself , we ’ re selling a destination . Another special aspect of Hurghada is that if someone wants to invest here by buying an apartment and renting it out , they will find that Hurghada is working all year long unlike the North Coast for example .
What do you focus on more when it comes to real estate : short-term rentals or longterm rentals and sales ? And do you focus more on the Egyptian or the Foreign market ?
When it comes to long term , the foreign market isn ’ t always very active , and it is not our main target . This is more related to the local market . Short term , however , goes for both . When hotels start raising their prices because their priority is to host foreign guests , and those prices become too expensive for Egyptians , this is when Egyptians start heading for short term rentals . As for short term rentals for foreigners , we do that as well , but we face the hotels ’ strong
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