El Gouna

[crombiestone]

El Gouna? Why always Hurghada or Sahl ?

I appreciate that this forum seems to be used for developers to promote their wares but El Gouna never seems to get a mention . Now I am biased as I have a property there but I have no financial gain to be had from promoting the development . The only place you can buy proprerty in El Gouna is from Orascom (One of the largest companies in Egypt )in El Gouna .

El Gouna is the original blueprint for the mega resorts that are appearing up and down the red sea (and Morocco) , Shal Hasheesh being the main up & coming resort .

It has taken 15 years to build El Gouna to its current size and whilst the massive increase in interest in Egyptian properties will mean that the new resorts will grow quicker ,If you know Egypt ,you know that things dont happen that quickly there !

Sure Hurghada property is very cheap but the premiums incurred at the Mega resorts are in some way justified ,they certainly were totally justified for me . I do however agree that the premiums for property in Sahl Hasheesh are very high considering how long people will have to wait for Shops ,restaurants and golf Courses to be completed .

In El Gouna we already have 14 estblished hotels ,over 60 restaurants & bars,shops,a Golf course (soon to be two),a hospital,a school ,a marina ,a brilliant transport system ,a football club and even an airport (Cairo Only )! and development continues apace

Yet you can still get property off plan from £44,000 for a one bedroom apartment with pool shared between only 50-60 apartments in a low rise development overlooking a tranquil lagoon . Something I think some readers will be surprised at .

I have no doubt that Sahl will be magnificent but I think the prices are too high for the level of development completed at the moment when comparing to El Gouna .

 

[propertastic]

I stopped by at Orascom's offices while I was there two months ago and was told that apartments in phase 2 will be EUR2000-3000/m2, making them two to three times more expensive than El Gouna.

I also heard that there are two real estate offices in El Gouna - one for foreigners and one for Egyptians, with the Egyptians paying a lot less than foreigners.

As a result, it can work out a lot cheaper to go through an Egyptian real estate agent as a middleman, even after paying his 5% commission.

I guess that it's a matter of taste, but I did rather find El Gouna to be a little claustrophobic compared to Sahl Hasheesh's wide vista that stretches out from wherever you are in the resort.

 

[awahee123]

Hi crombiestone,

I think you are right in thinking the members of the property forum will be surprised at your quoted 1 bed price,I certainly am.
El Gouna is a very nice place and exclusive.
If you have anyhting to add about el Gouna please start a new thread with your desired subject i'm sure you will receive a lot of interest.
It would also provide valuable information to people on the forum.
I certainly do not know much about El Gouna and would welcome any information you can provide,maybe you can keep us updated with any further issues.
I'm sure you will receive more enquiries regarding the £44000 price quoted for a 1 bed apartment.

 

[distant dreamer]

As an owner on both Sahl Hasheesh and El Gouna, I have to say I love them both for different reasons. I think there is lack of discussion about El Gouna because they refuse point blank to deal with agents, like Crombiestone says and obviously with all the other developments around most agents who post here would rather spend their time promoting something that they may end up getting commission on, one way or the other!

 

[crombiestone]

Hello Propertastic

I stopped by at Orascom's offices while I was there two months ago and was told that apartments in phase 2 will be EUR2000-3000/m2, making them two to three times more expensive than El Gouna
Propertastic.

I'm not sure whate you mean by phase 2 . There are a few developments in El Gouna that do vary in price . I was quoting the price for Golf West Phase 3 which are $95500 USD at current exchange rate .

I also heard that there are two real estate offices in El Gouna - one for foreigners and one for Egyptians, with the Egyptians paying a lot less than foreigners.

As a result, it can work out a lot cheaper to go through an Egyptian real estate agent as a middleman, even after paying his 5% commission.
Propertastic

It is true that there is a 2 tier pricing system and this is not only apparent in El Gouna one example is the Sharm- Hurghada ferry . I have heard a couple of horror stories of people trying to buy via the Egyptian route . I'm not saying its not possible to do but there is a risk that you could hand over your cash and get nothing .

I wasnt knocking Sahl at all only saying that its prices are very expensive for a resort in its early stages .Sahl has taken a long time to "take off" with some plots already changing hands .Orascom originally had the Marina plot at Sahl which was marketed as Venice Marina . For some reson they saw fit to sell the land on to the group who are developing Serrenia . Serrenias website appears to be "under further development " isnt that a little worrying ? I would think that prices in Sahl should be lower at the moment to compensate for any risk of the development not getting finished to planned timescales. Early buyers in El Gouna (sadly long before I found out about it) got major bargains.

 

[crombiestone]

Price correction

Thought I had better correct my conversion

The exchange rate has dropped a bit since July when it was 2.16 USD to the £. At current exchange rate its about £46,600 for $95,500 USD

 

[distant dreamer]

Interesting about the Serrenia website. When I was out in early November I had another tour of the whole of Sahl Hasheesh. Regarding the Serrenia project, I was told that they were waiting for very strong diggers which were being delivered in the New Year and then it would be underway again. Also a famous name is apparently getting involved with Serrenia, alongside those already on board. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

 

[Peter Mitry]

I heard the same rumour; no names but suffice to say THE richest man in the world and the most successful real estate magnate ever! I guess we'll have to wait & see!

 

[propertastic]

I'm not sure whate you mean by phase 2 . There are a few developments in El Gouna that do vary in price . I was quoting the price for Golf West Phase 3 which are $95500 USD at current exchange rate .

I'm not sure what the Phase number is precisely, but it is the 'new' or 'next' phase which will include a new marina and a new golf course all to the north of the current area of development.

Certainly I would say that anyone who is interested in an upmarket villa would do well to look at El Gouna as there are a lot to choose from - I see a lot of them on the secondary market now.

I am not aware of too many villas being built at Sahl Hasheesh - those that I do know of (Ocean Breeze) are insanely expensive.

 

[J4hurghada]

HI
I visited El Gouna last week We have very good friends who own the Chinese Resterant there. What a lovely place but way up market for my bugget. That is why poeple like me invest in Hurghada as the prices are way lower. If I had 1/2 a million to spare I would love a villa there like the prime minister of Egypt has there.

 

[J4hurghada]

sorry not forgetting my cabin cruiser would be docked there. And noticing most of the boats were from Jersey and Gernsea (wonder if thats a good tax fiddle for the rich).

 

[awahee123]

Re El Gouna

sorry not forgetting my cabin cruiser would be docked there. And noticing most of the boats were from Jersey and Gernsea (wonder if thats a good tax fiddle for the rich).

I also noticed that,lol some also from South America when I was there back in June.I find it very quite how do the businesses survive?.
Must be busy in the evening.

 

[J4hurghada]

I know with the eating houses they take it in turn to have happy hours and say proberly monday night is chinese, tuesday indian and so on, think they all have alot of fingers in alot of pies as cousin club together to get buisness, nice way to work not fighting against each other to get the buiness like in this country.

 

[awahee123]

Certainly is a nice way to operate,I just can't imagine anybody doing very well out of the situation at the moment.
Maybe it will all be worth it for them in the future.

 

[crombiestone]

Agreed ,it can be very quiet but businesses can be very successful . 7th Star at the Marina is always busy and I have been turned away from the Indian restaurant a couple of times because it was full .La Scala and the other Tarek Sharif (Omars son) establishments also do well. Del porto ,one of my favourites ,has closed though so it must be tough for some .

In the past 3 years I have noticed an upturn in the amount of visitors on each visit . On Fridays the Marina is packed because the hotels put up tables around the waters edge for their guests to eat ,I think its just that most people stay in their hotels the rest of the time because of food arrangements be it HB or AI. Repeat visitors ,of which there are many ,tend to go B&B on there next trips . I dont think it was ever planned to be a mass tourist area like Naama Bay .

 

[Peter Mitry]

There is truth in what you said earlier; many of us on the forum are new buyers or involved in some way in the property industry. From that perspective El Gouna is a mature project which does not offer any opportunities for first time buyers.
It does not detract from the fact that those considering investing in other projects, and particularly those on a similar scale, should take comfort from what has already happened in El Gouna. Prices have rocketed and I am sure that we will all look back in five years and wonder why we didn't invest sooner.

 

[crombiestone]

My post was to point out that El Gouna Still has off plan property for around £46500 . This compares well to Sahl and would therefore be of interest to first time buyers ,surely? Just because El Gouna is a mature development doesnt write it off , there are continuing expansion plans . The maturity of the resort makes it all the more attractive for me . I did say it makes a good lifestyle choice .For me it wasn't all about investment and profit ,that came along as a bonus and I do think the resort still has potential .

 

[awahee123]

I think £46500 is a very reasonable off plan price for El Gouna,maybe the developer needs to advertise the prices to regenerate further interst within El Gouna.

 

[crombiestone]

Orascom's promotion of El Gouna outside of El Gouna is pretty useless . They have 2 or 3 offices in El Gouna and a real estate website which isnt so well updated (Cant post URL). They do usually reply to information requests from the site and they pretty much attend all of the property exhibitions in London & Birmingham . They do not use any agents to promote either . I have also seen adverts in GB Air and XL in flight magazines and they once had a feature in the Daily Mail.

When we bought they were very helpful but there was no hard sell ,they pretty much said if we didn't buy the apartment they would sell it soon .

Maybe I should ask them for a promotions job

 

[awahee123]

LOL,PLEASE GET ME A JOB AS WELL,I CAN DO A LOT OF NOTHING,I'M REALLY GOOD AT IT.HA HA OH DEAR ,YOU HAVE MADE ME LAUGH MY SOCKS OFF,EVEN MY SON IS SAT HERE LAUGHING.Well if they are happy in their world who are we to judge them.
Maybe some new management may have some get up and go.