Brexit has inevitably had a huge impact on the pound, which has weakened significantly against other popular global currencies such as the USD and the Euro. The depreciation of the pound has seen people who are purchasing properties in Europe and the USA paying up to 25% more for properties of the same value from this time last year.

The uncertainty of the property market in the UK since brexit, the increasing taxes on buy to let incomes and the introduction of higher stamp duty taxes for second homes have seen the UK buyers looking further afield when considering property investments.

Hurghada is increasingly becoming more popular, as some of the developers are offering the option for people to purchase in the UK pound, this means that there are no issues with currency uncertainty for UK buyers going forward with rates going up and down and the buyers quarterly payments changing with the exchange rate. Aqua Palms Resort, which is overseen by Go Investment who are the master agents and part of the development team have actually gone as far to set the prices in pound sterling, which is very unique in a country where this is not their national currency.

This has had a huge impact on sales from UK buyers who are taking advantage of being able to purchase in their own currency via a UK based company on shores further afield. Sales manager Namira Davies says “we have seen an increase in sales by 30% from this time last year, we accredit this partly to the current currency situation but also to the very low buying costs in Hurghada which is hugely beneficial to investors. We can also not discount the popularity of the Aqua Palms Resort which was only launched this year and we have already seen almost 50% of the launched units sell out, which is record timing for a new resort. The future for Hurghada property investments is looking great”.

Director Gareth Haldenby, goes on to say that “Aqua Palms is such a great introduction to the Hurghada property market, it is bringing modern luxury at affordable prices to the area and we have already acquired 3 further plots of land for additional developments to take place as part of the Aqua group of developments. We want to bring not just modern and affordable developments to the market but also a high standard of finshings and very well managed resorts on completion, as we consider the management of the completed resort one of the most important aspects of the investment. It is a very exciting time for property investments in Hurghada.”

It is not surprising to see why people are looking to Hurghada when considering investment, especially when you compare the difference in buying costs. If you take for example Spain, which is the most popular European country for UK buyers to purchase in, you are told to expect to consider up to 10% of the overall property price as buying costs, with 6.5% property tax alone. In comparison there are currently no property taxes in Egypt and when purchasing from a company like Go Investment you do not pay any additional fees, just a small amount on completion to register the property which is less than 400 GBP.

Furthermore, when you look at the basic maintenance costs when buying in a resort in Spain, you will be expected to pay anything from 100 GBP per month, which is not far off the total yearly charge for maintenance for a studio in a resort in Hurghada.

Ben Radcliffe, the sales assistant at Go Investment(http://www.goinvestment.co.uk/) states that, “the fact that you can purchase a freehold apartment from Go Investment and pay over an interest free payment plan in a new resort with extensive facilities and low running costs, from under 10,000 GBP would make it very hard to match such an investment elsewhere in the world. The property investments here almost speak for themselves and as the currency situation is forcing people to look further afield we are seeing a huge increase in UK investors. Some people have said that had they had known about this before they would have invested sooner, so I think it is a great time to take advantage of these prices because as demand increases for these properties these prices will inevitably be a think of the past in years to come.”

Sara Picoult
Go Investment
[email protected]
00442078594280
(+44 207 8594280)
London