Mena faces shortage of 3.5m affordable homes

The Middle East and North Africa region MENA is facing a shortage of 3.5 million affordable homes, with the biggest undersupply in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi markets a major challenge, given that this is one of the reasons behind the political turmoil in the Arab world, a Jones Lang Lasalle report said. Egypt requires 1.5 million affordable homes, Iraq one million, Morocco 600,000 and Saudi 400,000 homes.There is also a need for affordable housing in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman , the report said, according to Gulf News. Demand is forecast to overtake supply in the next five years, widening the current gap even further, the report said.