Resale versus buying from the developer: what changes and what to check
Resale means buying from an owner, not a developer. What the 100 listings on Ahlan Homes show, the developer balance to check, and how to compare two offers.
The short answer
A resale unit is one that its current owner already holds and wants to sell, so you buy it from a person rather than from a developer's sales office. On the Ahlan Homes list today there are 100 resale listings from six compounds, with asking prices from 585,000 EGP to 50,000,000 EGP and a median of 6,881,500 EGP, as of 17 October 2026. These are what sellers ask, not what units have sold for. The figure that decides the deal is the balance the owner still owes the developer, not the headline price.
Who resale suits
Resale suits three kinds of buyer. The first wants to move in or rent out sooner than a unit still under construction allows, and is ready to inspect the building in person. The second wants a layout that the developer no longer sells in a compound that is already largely sold. The third wants a lower entry figure than a new unit in the same compound, provided the seller's position is clear and documented.
Resale does not suit a buyer who needs a fixed handover date written into a sales contract. A resale listing carries none. Our resale rows give the compound name, the unit type, the number of bedrooms, the area in square metres, the asking price, the filing date and the status. They do not give a handover date, the remaining developer balance or the payment schedule. Those are questions for the seller before any money moves.
What the 100 listings show
Of the 100 listings currently filed, 67 are apartments, 19 are villas, 7 are townhouses, 3 are twin houses, 2 are penthouses, and there is one duplex and one studio. Three-bedroom units are the most common with 38 listings, followed by two-bedroom units with 33. The median area is 153 square metres.
Asking prices differ by type. The median apartment is asked at 5,500,000 EGP, with a range from 585,000 to 11,200,000 EGP. The median villa is asked at 14,500,000 EGP, with a range from 5,959,000 to 50,000,000 EGP. The median townhouse is asked at 9,052,000 EGP across seven listings. The middle half of all listings sits between 3,700,000 and 9,000,000 EGP. All 100 were filed between 3 and 8 October 2026, so the figures are a snapshot taken on 17 October and they may move.
The catalogue as a whole holds 7,815 unit records across 14 unit types. Of those, 211 are resale, which is about 2.7 percent. That is the honest size of resale on this site: small, and concentrated in a few compounds. The list endpoint returns at most 100 rows, so the 211 units are more than the listings quoted here. Do not read the catalogue's developer figures as resale figures; they describe new units only.
Where resale is listed
The listings cluster in a few places. Eighty-eight of the 100 sit in two compounds in October Gardens, which belongs to the 6th of October City area: O West with 57 listings and Badya with 31. Seven listings are in Mountain View iCity New Cairo in New Cairo. Four are in The Estates and VYE SODIC in New Zayed. The last one is in Mountain View iCity October, in the Northern Expansion of 6th of October City.
A compound name on a resale listing tells you where the unit is and nothing more. Inspect the building, the floor, the orientation and the view yourself, and ask for the unit's own handover condition.
Developer prices and payment terms for comparison
The table below sets resale asking prices beside the starting asking prices for new units, as the record holds them on 17 October 2026. The starting figure is the lowest asking price in each compound's record. It is an asking price, not a sale price, and it can change at any time.
| Compound | Area | Starting asking price | Minimum deposit | Maximum instalment years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O West | October Gardens, 6th of October City | 4,650,000 EGP | 5% | 9 |
| Badya | October Gardens, 6th of October City | 2,940,000 EGP | 10% | 8 |
| Mountain View iCity New Cairo | New Cairo | 5,800,000 EGP | 10% | 8 |
| The Estates | New Zayed | 14,000,000 EGP | 5% | 10 |
| VYE SODIC | New Zayed | 15,889,000 EGP | 5% | 10 |
| Mountain View iCity October | Northern Expansion, 6th of October City | 4,762,000 EGP | 10% | 8 |
Across the whole catalogue, the most common deposit on developer units is 5 percent, held by 3,495 units, followed by 10 percent on 2,777 units. The most common instalment term is 8 years on 2,458 units, followed by 10 years on 1,856 units. Those counts describe new units from developers, not resale.
On a resale unit the payment question is different. If the seller has paid part of a developer plan, you normally take over what remains, and the developer must agree to the transfer. Ask the seller for the developer's statement of account, which shows what has been paid and what is still due, and check it against the contract before you pay a deposit.
Delivery years and what they mean for resale
Delivery years are recorded for developer units. Across the catalogue, 726 units are due in 2026, 740 in 2027, 1,074 in 2028, 1,654 in 2029, 2,472 in 2030, 113 in 2031 and 29 in 2032. Among the six compounds with resale listings, the record shows a delivery date of 30 December 2026 for The Estates and for VYE SODIC, 29 September 2027 for Badya and 1 January 2030 for O West. Mountain View iCity New Cairo and Mountain View iCity October carry no delivery date in their record.
A resale unit inherits the developer's schedule for the building it sits in. If the building is still under construction, the handover depends on the developer, not on the seller, and the listing will not tell you when it will happen. Treat the recorded dates as the developer's dates, not as a promise, and ask the developer to confirm them in writing.
Access and landmarks from the record
Distances are straight-line figures as recorded, in kilometres. Check a route before you rely on a travel time.
- O West: Ramo Mall 2.7 km, Ramo Square 2.9 km, Capital Care Hospital 2.9 km, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts 3 km, Sphinx International Airport 19.4 km.
- Badya: Mall of Egypt 10.7 km, Hyper One Mall 12.1 km, Smart Village 23.7 km.
- Mountain View iCity New Cairo: El Shorouk Academy 19.6 km, Cairo International Airport 20.1 km, Helwan University 21.4 km.
- The Estates: Sphinx International Airport 3.2 km, Cloud 5 Mall 8.1 km, MUST hospital 12.6 km.
- VYE SODIC: Six West 5.1 km, Sphinx International Airport 5 km, Cloud 5 Mall 6.9 km, MUST hospital 10.9 km.
- Mountain View iCity October: Al Ahram Scan 3.5 km, Mubarak Kohl technical school 4.9 km, the Sheikh Zayed experimental school in District 11 at 7 km.
How to compare two resale offers
Compare like with like before you compare prices. Put the two units side by side on the same measures:
- Type and bedrooms. A three-bedroom apartment and a two-bedroom apartment are different products.
- Area. Divide the asking price by the area in square metres. The median apartment in our listings is asked at 5,500,000 EGP for a median area near 153 square metres, so the arithmetic is roughly 36,000 EGP per square metre for an illustrative apartment at that size. Treat this as a calculation on one example, not as a market rate.
- Balance owed. Ask what remains to the developer and how many instalments are left. A lower asking price with a large balance can cost more than a higher price that is paid off.
- Transfer. Confirm the developer will approve the transfer and who pays the fees. The contract sets the split; the listing does not.
- Condition and handover. Ask for the unit's finishing level and any defects, and get the developer's handover statement in writing.
Keep the arithmetic honest. A per-square-metre figure from a single listing says nothing about the rest of a compound, and a median across 100 listings says nothing about one unit.
Frequently asked questions
The answers below rely only on the figures in this article and the catalogue record.
What is a resale unit, and how does it differ from buying from a developer?
A resale unit is held by an owner who wants to sell it. You negotiate with that person, and the developer's payment schedule may carry over with it. A unit bought from a developer is sold directly under the developer's plan and handover terms.
Is the asking price on a resale listing the price I will pay?
No. The listing shows what the seller asks. The median asking price across the 100 listings we hold is 6,881,500 EGP as of 17 October 2026, and the final figure depends on the negotiation, the balance owed and the transfer terms.
What must I check about the developer's balance before I buy a resale unit?
Ask for the developer's statement of account and compare it with the contract. Confirm what has been paid, what is still due, the number of instalments left and whether the developer approves the transfer. Do not pay a deposit before these are confirmed in writing.
Who pays the transfer fee on a resale unit?
The sale agreement decides it. The listing does not say, so agree the split with the seller in writing before you sign.
Can a resale unit in a compound still under construction be delivered in 2027?
A resale listing carries no handover date. The compound's recorded delivery date, where there is one, is the developer's date and not a promise. Ask the developer to confirm the handover schedule for that building in writing before you rely on it.
