Why two apartments of the same size in New Cairo differ by 100% in price, what each district actually costs per square metre in 2026, and the five questions to ask before you sign.
The most common mistake buyers make in New Cairo is asking: "What is the price per square metre in the Fifth Settlement?"
The question itself is wrong, because there is no single number. The square metre in New Cairo starts at roughly EGP 36,000 and reaches EGP 87,000 for residential units, both inside the same city and minutes apart. The difference is not build quality. It is the district.
This guide is built on units actually listed with Home Locator in New Cairo, with their real prices and areas, not on general estimates.
This deserves attention. Analysis of property search data in New Cairo shows that district names are searched more than the name of the city itself:
| Search term | Relative volume |
|---|---|
| Al Rehab | 98 |
| Al Banafseg | 96 |
| Dar Misr Al Qarnfel | 92 |
| Fifth Settlement (generic) | 85 |
| First Settlement | 80 |
| Al Yasmine | 72 |
| Al Narges | 68 |
| Al Lotus | 63 |
| Al Andalus | 57 |
This makes complete sense. A serious buyer does not think of "New Cairo" as one unit. They think in terms of a specific distance from their children's school, their office, or the Ring Road. The district determines that, not the city.
Practical conclusion: If someone offers you "an apartment in the Fifth Settlement" without naming the district, they either do not know, or would rather you did not.
The table below is built on actual units in the Home Locator portfolio, with their areas and prices as they stand:
| Project | District | Unit type | Areas | Price per m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Makany | Katameya | Apartments | 95 – 141 m² | 36,700 – 40,200 |
| Hope | Fifth Settlement | Studios and apartments | 84 – 170 m² | 67,200 – 86,800 |
| The Core | New Cairo | Offices, clinics, retail | 42 – 134 m² | 106,000 – 244,000 |
| El Khan Mall | New Cairo | Retail | 30 – 175 m² | 100,000 – 239,500 |
The number to stop at is the first one: Katameya at 36,000 against the Fifth Settlement at 67,000.
That is a gap of nearly double in price per square metre, inside the same city. A 120 m² apartment in Katameya sits around EGP 4.5 million; the same area in the heart of the Fifth Settlement exceeds EGP 8 million.
This gap is consistent with what Egyptian property sources publish for 2026: the average square metre in Fifth Settlement compounds sits around EGP 70,000, while Katameya is near EGP 31,000 and New Lotus around EGP 31,400.
1. Distance from the main axes. Proximity to Mohamed Naguib Axis, the Middle Ring Road and South Ninety raises the price directly. Katameya is relatively further from the commercial core.
2. Density of services. The Fifth Settlement has an unusual concentration of international schools, malls and hospitals. In the pricing equation this is not a luxury: it is what makes a unit easy to resell.
3. Project type. A gated compound with its security, services and landscaping prices completely differently from a residential building on an open street, even at identical size.
4. Delivery stage. A ready-to-move unit costs more than one delivered in three years, and the gap between them typically runs between 15% and 25%.
Commercial space in New Cairo starts at EGP 100,000 per metre and reaches EGP 244,000. This confuses anyone comparing it directly to residential, but the comparison itself is wrong.
A commercial unit is not measured by price per metre. It is measured by rental yield.
| Unit type | Price per m² | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ground-floor retail | 220,000 – 244,000 | Highest: footfall passes the door |
| Upper-floor retail | 100,000 – 150,000 | Depends on lifts and stairs |
| Clinic | 106,000 – 126,000 | Tied to a medical cluster in the same building |
| Administrative office | 106,000 – 113,000 | Lowest: external footfall is irrelevant |
The governing rule: ground-floor retail can be worth double an office in the same building per metre, for one reason: frontage and footfall. Anyone buying third-floor retail at ground-floor prices has paid for something they will not receive.
1. Which district exactly, not which city? The gap between one district and another reaches double the price.
2. What delivery date is written in the contract? Not the verbal date, and not "roughly end of year".
3. What is the down payment, how many years of instalments, and are there hidden quarterly payments? Payment plans in 2026 reach 8 and 10 years, which changes the real cost considerably.
4. What exactly is the finishing level? "Semi-finished", "fully finished" and "super lux" are elastic terms, and the gap between them can reach a million pounds on a 150 m² unit.
5. Who is the developer, and what have they delivered before? A developer who delivered two projects on schedule is nothing like one selling their first.
New Cairo is not one market. It is adjacent markets. The square metre ranges from 36,000 to 87,000 for residential, and 100,000 to 244,000 for commercial, and every one of those numbers is correct in its place.
A buyer who knows which district they want, and why, pays a fair price. One who asks about "the price per metre in the Settlement" gets a number that means nothing.
To see currently available units in New Cairo with their prices and areas, or to get a written comparison between two units you are weighing, contact us on 01007200567.
<!-- hl:units -->كل وحدة تحت معروضة فعليًا الآن، والسعر هو السعر المعلن من المطوّر:
للاستفسار أو حجز معاينة: 01007200567 · واتساب 01100094355