Property for sale in New Cairo and the Fifth Settlement
New Cairo is not one place. It is a band of separately planned settlements east of Cairo, and the Fifth Settlement — التجمع الخامس — is the most developed of them. Which settlement a unit sits in matters more to its value than almost anything inside the apartment.
New Cairo carries the deepest modern resale market in Egypt and the widest spread of quality. A three-bedroom in a delivered Fifth Settlement compound and a three-bedroom on an unserviced street ten minutes away are different assets at different prices, and listings describe both as New Cairo.
The districts
| District | Arabic | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Fifth Settlement | التجمع الخامس | The core. Compounds, schools, retail, the AUC campus. Most mature and most expensive. |
| First Settlement | التجمع الأول | Older, lower-rise, villas on plots. Closer to Maadi and the ring road. |
| Third Settlement | التجمع الثالث | Mixed, more affordable, patchier services. |
| Rehab City | الرحاب | Self-contained older development with genuine amenities and a settled community. |
| Madinaty | مدينتي | Adjacent, very large, fully delivered. Often listed under New Cairo though it is separate. |
| Narges, Yasmin, Banafseg, Lotus | النرجس، الياسمين، البنفسج، اللوتس | Named residential neighbourhoods inside the Fifth Settlement, mostly apartment blocks on plots. |
| North and South Investors | المستثمرين الشمالية والجنوبية | Mixed residential and commercial, well located, variable build quality. |
When a listing says only "New Cairo", ask which settlement and which neighbourhood. The answer moves the price by a wide margin.
What drives price here
- Compound or not. A gated compound with delivered amenities commands a clear premium over an identical unit on an open street, and carries a service charge to match.
- Delivery maturity. A compound in its final phase with shops, schools and neighbours in place is worth materially more than one still building.
- Registration. Much New Cairo stock is held on developer contracts rather than registered title, because the developer has not registered the parent land. This is the single biggest hidden variable in the market.
- Finishing. Core-and-shell delivery is common and the finishing cost is substantial.
- Proximity to the Ring Road, the Suez Road and the new Monorail alignment.
Who buys in New Cairo
Three groups, with different consequences for you as a buyer. Egyptian families moving out of central Cairo for space and schools, who dominate demand and set prices. Investors holding empty units as a store of value, which is why finished apartments sit unoccupied and rental yields stay thin. And returning expatriates and Gulf-based Egyptians paying in hard currency, concentrated in the better compounds.
Foreign non-Egyptian buyers are a small minority here compared with the Red Sea. The two-unit and 4,000 square metre limits under Law 230 of 1996 apply normally; there is no coastal approval requirement inland.
Before you commit
- Establish which settlement and which compound, precisely.
- Ask whether the developer has registered the parent land. If not, you cannot register your unit however clean your own contract is.
- Get the annual service charge in writing, with the last three years of actual figures so you can see the escalation.
- Check the maintenance deposit due at handover — it can be several per cent of price and catches buyers who budgeted only for the unit.
- Visit at 8am on a weekday. New Cairo's defining daily cost is the commute.
Owner listings on this site
Common questions
Is New Cairo the same as the Fifth Settlement?
No. The Fifth Settlement is one district within New Cairo, and the most developed one. New Cairo also takes in the First and Third Settlements, Rehab and the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Is New Cairo expensive?
It is the upper end of mainstream Egyptian housing, though it spans a wide range — a compound villa and a street apartment in the Third Settlement are separated by an order of magnitude.
Can foreigners buy in New Cairo?
Yes, under the standard Law 230 limits of two residential units and 4,000 square metres in total. No coastal or border approval is needed inland.
Last reviewed September 2026. Prices, tax rates, residency thresholds and ownership rules in Egypt change frequently — verify anything you are relying on.