The apartment
A unit inside a residential building, with neighbours above, below and on both sides. The least privacy, the lowest price, and the least responsibility — external maintenance, stairs and lifts all sit with the project's management.
Compound apartments run from about 35 m² to 205 m² for duplexes, with entry prices from around EGP 3,600,000.
Suits: first purchases, small households, and buy-to-let investors — apartments are by far the easiest type to rent out and resell.
The townhouse
A two- or three-storey house attached on both sides to its neighbours. You get a rear garden, often a front one too, and a private entrance — but no windows along the sides.
Three variants exist in the market: middle (in the centre of the row, the cheapest), corner (at the end of the row, one neighbour and a side garden, more expensive), and back-to-back (attached at the rear rather than the sides).
Sizes run from 150 to 248 m², with prices from around EGP 17,200,000.
Suits: families who want a house with a garden and more privacy than an apartment, without paying standalone villa prices.
The twin house
Two houses sharing a single wall, each with garden on three sides. Noticeably more privacy than a townhouse, and windows on three aspects rather than two.
⚠️ An important note: twin houses are not offered in every project. Many developments — including Madinet Masr's current projects — move from townhouse straight to villa with no twin house tier. If this type matters to you, ask for it by name before visiting.
Suits: buyers who want the feel of a villa at a lower price and do not mind one shared wall.
The S-Villa
This one causes the most confusion, because developers use the label differently. In Madinet Masr's projects it refers to a detached unit with a smaller footprint than a standalone villa, at 212 and 239 m², with prices from around EGP 18,100,000.
The practical advice here is: do not assume. Ask the representative one specific question — "does this unit touch anything on any side?" — and the answer settles the category regardless of what the brochure calls it.
Suits: buyers who want a genuine villa on a smaller budget with a reasonable garden.
The standalone villa
Detached on all sides, with garden wrapping the whole plot and windows in every direction. The most privacy, the highest price, and the highest maintenance burden too — the garden and façades are yours to look after.
Sizes run from 175 to 288 m², with prices from around EGP 23,300,000.
Suits: larger families, buyers for whom privacy is non-negotiable, and anyone buying a long-term home rather than a stepping stone.
One thing to check before deciding
The quoted size is not the plot size. For townhouses and villas, the advertised figure (say 212 m²) is usually the built-up area, with the plot considerably larger. Ask for both numbers separately — a 100 m² garden and a 300 m² garden are a vast difference at roughly the same price.
And price per metre falls as units get larger. So if you compare on price per metre, a villa will look cheaper than an apartment — which is misleading, because total cost, maintenance and running expenses are all higher.
You can see every type with real sizes and prices on the project pages: Sarai Compound · Talala · Butterfly Compound.
Conclusion
From cheapest to most expensive: apartment → townhouse → twin house → S-Villa → standalone villa, and what separates them is not luxury — it is the number of sides your neighbours touch.
Choose on your need for privacy and garden, not on the name. And before signing, ask three questions: how many sides does the unit touch, what is the plot area as distinct from the built-up area, and what are the annual maintenance fees.
Request the available unit list with sizes and prices and we will send you the full details.