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Can Foreigners Buy Property in Saudi Arabia? The 2026 Law Explained

Foreigners can buy property in Saudi Arabia, but only inside designated zones and under conditions set by the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis. The law took effect on 22 January 2026 and became operable on 23 June 2026. Full rules, process, costs and penalties.

Yes — but only inside designated zones, and only on conditions. Foreigners can buy property in Saudi Arabia under the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, promulgated by Royal Decree No. M/14 on 14 July 2025 and in force since 22 January 2026 [S1][S2]. Ownership is a statutory right rather than a discretionary permission, which is the substantive change. But it is confined to geographic zones approved by the Council of Ministers, Makkah and Madinah remain restricted to Muslims, and the whole regime only became usable on 23 June 2026, when the Cabinet approved the Executive Regulation and the accompanying Geographic Scope Document [S12][S14][S22].

The condition that matters most to an individual buyer is residency. A non-Saudi legally resident in the Kingdom may own inside the zones and one residential property for personal use outside them, Makkah and Madinah excepted [S8][S9][S10]. A non-Saudi living abroad is confined to the zones.

Whether foreigners can buy property in Saudi Arabia is now a question with a statutory answer rather than a discretionary one, and this page covers the law and the process. A companion piece maps the designated foreign ownership zones area by area; this article deliberately does not enumerate every zone. For the older general treatment, see can foreigners own property in Saudi Arabia — an encyclopedia entry written against the pre-2026 framework, superseded by this page on the legal detail.

Last verified: 31 July 2026.

When Does the New Saudi Property Ownership Law Take Effect?

The confusion in most published coverage comes from treating one date as the answer. There is a sequence, and the dates are complementary rather than contradictory.

DateEventStatus
8 July 2025Council of Ministers Resolution No. 42 approves the law [S6]Approved
14 July 2025 (19 Muharram 1447 AH)Royal Decree No. M/14 issued, 15 articles [S2]Promulgated
25 July 2025Published in Umm Al-Qura, the Official Gazette [S6][S7]Published
28 July – 28 August 2025Draft Executive Regulation open for consultation on Istitlaa [S3]Consulted
22 January 2026 (3 Sha’ban 1447 AH)Law enters into force; REGA announces the same day [S1]In force
23 June 2026Council of Ministers approves the Executive Regulation and the Geographic Scope Document [S12][S22]Operable
24 June 2026REGA opens applications on the Saudi Properties platform [S4][S15]Live

Why some sources say 21 January and others say 22 January 2026

Article 15 of the law provides that it enters into force 180 days after publication in the Official Gazette. Counting 180 days from 25 July 2025 lands on 21 January 2026, and several firm alerts — King & Spalding among them — state that date [S10]. The Real Estate General Authority (REGA), the regulator that administers the law, announced commencement on the following day: “the Real Estate Ownership System for Non-Saudi Nationals has officially entered into force… effective as of today, Thursday 3 Sha’ban 1447 AH, corresponding to 22 January 2026” [S1]. Latham & Watkins uses the same date for both the law and the parallel Capital Market Authority controls [S11]. The 180-day period elapses on 21 January; commencement falls on the day after. Use 22 January 2026.

Why “January 2026” and “June 2026” are both correct

They describe different events. On 22 January 2026 the law was in force but inert: no Executive Regulation, no Geographic Scope Document, no intake channel. REGA spokesperson Taysir Al-Mufarrej said at the time that the zones document would be published “during the first quarter of 2026” and warned that circulating claims about which projects were eligible were not official [S16]. Q1 passed without it.

The gap closed on Tuesday 23 June 2026, when the Council of Ministers approved both the Executive Regulation of Cabinet Decision No. 42/1447 and the designated geographic areas [S22]. REGA’s release announcing that the Saudi Properties portal would take applications carries a Riyadh dateline of 23 June 2026 [S4]; the opening was reported on 24 June [S15], with syndicated pickup to 25 June. For a buyer, the market opened in the last week of June 2026 — five months after the law technically commenced.

Who Can Own Property Under the Non-Saudi Real Estate Law

The law replaces case-by-case ministerial approval with an entitlement defined by buyer category and location. REGA’s own guidance lists six eligible classes: non-Saudi natural persons whether resident or not; non-Saudi companies whether operating in the Kingdom or not; non-Saudi non-profit entities; international missions and organisations on a reciprocity basis with Ministry of Foreign Affairs approval; Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders; and special-purpose vehicles, funds and entities with non-Saudi equity holders [S2].

Two forms of right are available: the ownership right, meaning full title, and other in-rem rights such as usufruct and easement, whose maximum duration is set zone by zone [S2].

BuyerInside designated zonesOutside designated zonesMakkah and Madinah
Non-Saudi individual, resident in the KingdomOwnership or usufruct, subject to the zone’s cap, permitted rights and termOne residential property for personal useOnly if Muslim, and only inside a designated zone
Non-Saudi individual, non-residentOwnership or usufruct on the same zone termsNot permittedOnly if Muslim, and only inside a designated zone
Non-Saudi (foreign) companyPermitted; MISA registration and beneficial-owner disclosure requiredNot permittedNot permitted
Saudi-incorporated company with non-Saudi shareholdersPermittedPermitted for business purposes and employee housingPermitted
Listed companies, investment funds, CMA-licensed SPVsPermittedPer capital-markets rulesPermitted under CMA rules
Non-Saudi non-profit entityPermitted after registration with the National Centre for the Non-Profit SectorNot permittedNot permitted
Diplomatic missions and international organisationsOn reciprocity, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs approvalOn reciprocity, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs approvalNot applicable

Sources: REGA guidance [S2], King & Spalding [S10], Greenberg Traurig [S12], Latham & Watkins [S11].

The corporate route is the one most often misread. A company incorporated in Saudi Arabia is not a “non-Saudi” for the purposes of this law even if it is wholly foreign-owned, so it may acquire property for business purposes and employee housing both inside and outside the zones — including in Makkah and Madinah [S10]. That is a materially wider permission than any individual enjoys, which is why corporate structuring sits upstream of the property question. That vehicle runs through the Saudi foreign investment law and MISA licensing regime administered by the Ministry of Investment, and through company formation under the Companies Law.

On property type the law is broad: residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial real estate are all in scope [S22]. What is actually purchasable is narrower, because each zone entry specifies the available property types, the maximum ownership share and the maximum usufruct term [S2].

Can Foreigners Buy Property Anywhere in Saudi Arabia?

No. The geographic constraint is the hard edge of the regime, and it is the point at which most competing coverage becomes vague.

Ownership is permitted inside areas listed in the Geographic Scope Document approved by the Council of Ministers on 23 June 2026. The document is not a simple city list. It is a schedule of named districts and projects, each carrying its own permitted rights, ownership ceiling and usufruct term [S2][S16]. Riyadh’s entries are dominated by master-planned districts and giga-projects — King Abdullah Financial District, New Murabba, Diriyah Gate, Qiddiya, King Salman Park and Sports Boulevard among them; AGBI and IMI Daily, both reviewing the published list, count nine Riyadh zones [S15][S21]. Jeddah’s entry covers the central district plus a numbered series of development areas across the governorate. Makkah and Madinah each carry a small set of named zones. NEOM, AlUla, Amaala and the Red Sea development appear separately [S15][S21].

The full area-by-area breakdown belongs to the Saudi real estate investment zones map. This page owns the law and the process; that page owns the map. The division matters because the zone schedule is a living document that the Council of Ministers can amend, while the statutory framework described here is stable.

One exception cuts across the geography. A non-Saudi natural person legally resident in the Kingdom may own one residential property, for personal use, outside the designated zones — excluding Makkah and Madinah [S8][S9][S10][S19]. This is the provision that matters to the roughly 15.7 million non-Saudis living in the Kingdom, most of whom will never transact inside a giga-project. It converts a long-term rental population into a potential owner-occupier base in ordinary districts of Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere.

Can Non-Muslims Buy Property in Makkah or Madinah?

No. REGA states the rule directly: ownership in Makkah and Madinah “is restricted to Muslim individuals only, as well as to Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders”, within specific geographic areas [S2]. REGA’s June 2026 release repeats it: ownership in the two Holy Cities “is limited to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals from both within and outside the Kingdom” [S4].

Three consequences follow. A Muslim non-Saudi, resident or not, may buy in Makkah or Madinah but only inside a designated zone — the one-property-outside-the-zones concession does not extend to either city [S9]. A foreign company may not buy there at all. A Saudi-incorporated company with foreign shareholders may, and CMA-licensed fund managers may accept non-Saudi subscriptions into funds holding Saudi real estate including in the two cities, subject to capital-markets rules [S11].

That last channel is the practical route for non-Muslim capital seeking exposure to the two cities: indirect, regulated, and through a securities wrapper rather than a title deed. It is why the Saudi REITs market is a more relevant instrument than the ownership law for that investor.

Note that some law-firm summaries state flatly that non-Saudi individuals cannot own in Makkah or Madinah. That reading conflicts with REGA’s own published position, which permits Muslim individuals. Where the regulator and a secondary summary diverge, the regulator governs.

How to Buy Property in Saudi Arabia as a Foreigner: Step by Step

Every application runs through one REGA-mandated electronic platform, Saudi Properties (saudiproperties.rega.gov.sa), integrated with the Saudi Central Bank payment infrastructure and the Real Estate Registry [S4][S12][S13]. There is no parallel paper route.

  1. Establish a Saudi digital identity. A resident applies directly with their residency (iqama) number, which is already bound to the national identity stack behind Absher and Nafath; eligibility is checked automatically [S4][S15]. A non-resident individual must first obtain a digital identity card from a Saudi diplomatic mission abroad, then apply online [S4]. Companies register with MISA through the Invest Saudi platform and obtain a national unified number [S15].
  2. Complete the supporting infrastructure. Non-resident individuals need a Saudi bank account and a Saudi mobile number linked to the digital identity [S14]. Companies need a legal representative holding a Saudi identity, a dedicated bank account, and disclosure of direct and indirect owners [S12][S14]. Non-profit entities must register with the National Centre for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector before acquiring [S12][S14].
  3. Check eligibility against the zone. The platform verifies buyer category against the Geographic Scope Document entry for the target area — permitted rights, ownership ceiling, usufruct term and property type [S2][S5]. This is where a non-resident discovers that a property outside the zones is simply not available to them.
  4. Confirm the property is registered in kind. The law makes in-kind registration in the Real Estate Registry a precondition of ownership: title attaches to the registered unit, with a title registration deed and sheet recording area, boundaries, rights, restrictions and prior dispositions [S2]. A property not yet registered in kind cannot complete.
  5. Submit the application and track it. Ownership pathways, approved opportunities, eligibility verification, submission and tracking all sit on the same portal [S4].
  6. Pay electronically. All financial transactions must use electronic payment methods routed through the platform [S14]. Both the Real Estate Transaction Tax and the non-Saudi disposal fee are settled here.
  7. Take title. Registration is issued into the Real Estate Registry against the unit, which is what makes the right enforceable and what the law’s dispute machinery protects [S2].

Registered entities then carry a continuing obligation: material changes — including transfers of 5% or more of ownership, or changes affecting the entity’s independence — must be notified within 15 days [S12][S14]. Failure to report is itself a penalisable violation.

For the wider stack of government platforms a buyer will touch, see Saudi digital government platforms; for transaction mechanics, how to buy property in Saudi Arabia.

What Are the Total Costs and Fees?

ItemRateLevied byNotes
Real Estate Transaction Tax (RETT)5% of transaction valueZATCAApplies to all buyers, Saudi and non-Saudi, under the RETT Law effective 9 April 2025 [S20]
Non-Saudi disposal fee — statutory ceilingUp to 5%REGAThe ceiling set by the law itself [S2][S10]
Non-Saudi disposal fee — rate actually set2%REGAApplied in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah under the Executive Regulation [S13][S14]
Combined transfer cost, four principal cities≈7%5% RETT plus 2% disposal fee
Zero-rated disposals0%REGAJudicial-order executions; developer sales within the development licence period; transfers to Kingdom entities wholly owned by the transferor [S13]
Premium Residency, Real Estate Owner trackProperty worth SAR4m ($1.07m)Premium Residency CentreSeparate application; property must be mortgage-free and in a designated area [S19]

The 10% figure that is now 7%

This is the most commonly repeated error on the topic and worth stating precisely. REGA’s own July 2025 Q&A described “a total real estate fee for non-Saudi real estate ownership of 10%, which includes 5% real estate disposition tax and an additional fee for real estate disposition for non-Saudis not exceeding 5%” [S2]. King & Spalding, writing on the law rather than the regulation, put the combined burden at “up to 10%” [S10]. Both were describing the statutory ceiling before the rate was set.

The Executive Regulation approved on 23 June 2026 fixed the additional fee at 2% of the value of a non-Saudi’s disposal of real property rights, applied uniformly across residential and commercial use in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah [S13][S14]. The real combined cost in those cities is therefore approximately 7%, not 10%. A draft circulated during consultation had proposed 2.5% on residential and zero on agricultural, commercial and industrial property [S11]; that structure did not survive into the final text, which Bird & Bird describes as “fixed (currently 2% in the principal cities)” with a schedule of zero-rated transactions [S13]. Pages still quoting 10% are quoting the ceiling, not the rate.

The word “currently” is doing real work there. The 2% is a regulatory rate REGA can move within the 5% statutory headroom without new primary legislation, so anyone underwriting a hold period should model the ceiling, not the rate. For the surrounding tax framework, see the Saudi tax system and the real estate investment and REITs guide.

Does Buying Property in Saudi Arabia Give You Residency?

No, not automatically. Ownership under the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis confers no immigration status whatsoever. The two regimes are separate, and conflating them is the most consequential error in the affiliate content currently ranking for this query.

Residency through property runs exclusively through the Real Estate Owner category of the Premium Residency programme, which requires a certified residential property worth at least SAR4m (about $1.07m) in a designated area, held free of mortgage, with the permit tied to continued ownership [S19]. Premium Residency was restructured in early 2024 into seven categories spanning talent, investor, entrepreneur and property tracks alongside fee-based routes [S19]. Fragomen’s summary is unambiguous: owning property under the general foreign ownership law “does not grant residency” [S19].

REGA’s guidance confirms the regimes sit alongside each other rather than merge, describing the ownership law as consistent with the Premium Residency Permit Law and the GCC statute on real estate ownership by Gulf citizens [S2]. GCC nationals and Premium Residency holders keep their existing entitlements; the new law adds a third, parallel route. The full entitlement set is in the Premium Residency in Saudi Arabia entry and the investor visa guide.

Penalties: Fines to SAR10 Million and Forced Sale at Auction

General violations start with a warning and escalate to a financial fine not exceeding 5% of the value of the in-rem right subject to the violation, capped at SAR10m (about $2.67m) [S2][S17]. A heavier tier applies to misrepresentation: supplying false or misleading information to obtain ownership carries a fine of up to SAR10m plus sale of the property by public auction [S2][S17]. Where a court orders that sale, the violator receives the lesser of net sale proceeds or the original purchase price — the mechanism is designed to strip the gain, not merely to fine [S10]. Intermediate breaches, including failure to rectify a violation or to report a required ownership change, attract fines between 0.1% and 3% of property value [S13].

Adjudication sits with specialised committees inside REGA, with judicial objection preserved [S2]. Violators are given between 10 and 180 days to rectify before penalties are imposed, and appeals run to the Administrative Court within 60 days [S17].

The asymmetry is deliberate. A paperwork error is a low-percentage fine; concealing who actually owns the asset is an auction. That maps onto the beneficial-ownership disclosure required of corporate buyers, and it tells you what the regulator is policing — not foreign capital, but opacity about whose capital it is. Disputes from a completed transaction run through the ordinary commercial channel, on which see Saudi Arabia arbitration and the SCCA framework and the broader laws in Saudi Arabia overview.

Why This Matters for Vision 2030

The reform is a foreign-capital instrument wearing a housing-policy hat, and both readings are supported by the record.

REGA’s stated objectives lead with attracting direct foreign investment to the real estate market and raising the sector’s contribution to GDP, followed by retaining global talent by making settlement easier [S2]. That maps onto the Vision 2030 target furthest from delivery: inbound FDI stood at 2.8% of GDP in 2025 against a 5.7% goal for 2030 and a 3.4% interim marker. REGA chief executive Mohammad Al-Suliman has framed foreign property access — including a fractional-ownership mechanism announced in December 2025 — as supporting the $100bn annual FDI ambition [S15].

The housing side is the more awkward story. Saudi home ownership reached 65.4% in 2024 against a 70% target, one of the strongest-performing Vision 2030 indicators, and the housing priority has been carried by domestic subsidy through Sakani and the Real Estate Development Fund. Foreign buyers were never part of that arithmetic — the KPI measures Saudi nationals. The law therefore adds demand to a market where the government simultaneously wants prices affordable for citizens. That tension is unresolved, and it is the most likely source of future amendment to the zone schedule.

Timing sharpens it. GASTAT’s real estate price index rose just 1.3% year on year in Q2 2026, with residential up 2.6%, agricultural up 11.3% and commercial down 3.2%; residential plots rose 6.3% while the commercial segment contracted [S18]. Knight Frank MENA head of research Faisal Durrani said in June 2026 that “the regional conflict has added to the weight of factors contributing to the slowing in residential sales activity” [S15], with Diriyah selling 38 homes in Q1 2026 against 170 a year earlier. Red Sea Global, by contrast, reported SAR1.8bn ($480m) of residential sales, foreigners accounting for 20% of transactions [S15]. Foreigners can buy property in Saudi Arabia at precisely the moment the market has gone soft and bifurcated. For the sector picture, see real estate and housing and investing in Saudi real estate.

Risks, Contradictions and Open Questions

The 2% fee is a rate, not a right. It sits well below the 5% statutory ceiling and can be raised by regulation. Any model that assumes 7% total transfer cost for a ten-year hold is assuming regulatory stability the law does not promise.

The Makkah and Madinah rule is stated two different ways in the professional literature. REGA says Muslim individuals may own within designated zones [S2][S4]; several firm alerts summarise the position as barring non-Saudi individuals entirely [S10][S12]. We follow the regulator. A buyer in that position should nonetheless obtain written confirmation before committing funds, because the divergence suggests the implementing detail is being read differently by practitioners.

The exact application-opening date is reported inconsistently. REGA’s release carries a 23 June 2026 dateline [S4], AGBI reported the opening on 24 June [S15], and syndicated coverage dated it 25 June. All describe the same event in the same week. The authority’s English news archive did not list a June announcement when checked on 28 July 2026, so the date rests on REGA’s newswire release plus press reporting rather than on the regulator’s own site.

Zone counts circulating online are not verifiable. A figure of roughly 170 designated zones appears across several property portals. It does not appear in any primary or professional source we could reach, and we do not use it. The Geographic Scope Document is published through the portal’s interactive map rather than as a static list [S5].

Financing is the open question no source answers. Nothing in the law or the regulation addresses mortgage availability for non-resident buyers, and Saudi lenders’ appetite there is untested at scale. A cash-only market behaves very differently from a financed one. The domestic picture is in the Saudi mortgage market analysis.

Site-internal contradiction, disclosed. Our earlier encyclopedia entry on foreign property ownership describes a 2021 framework, a MISA-approval requirement and an absolute Makkah and Madinah prohibition. It predates Royal Decree M/14, is superseded on the legal detail by this page, and is flagged for revision.

What the law does not do. It creates no residency-by-investment route, does not lift the religious restriction in the two Holy Cities, does not guarantee any particular project sits inside a zone, and does not repeal the 5% RETT.

What to Watch Next

  • Q3 2026 GASTAT real estate price index, due around late October 2026, is the first reading that will contain a full quarter of open foreign access. Watch the residential plot series, which has been carrying the index.
  • Any amendment to the Geographic Scope Document. The Council of Ministers can add or remove zones. The first amendment will reveal whether the schedule is being used as an affordability valve.
  • Whether the 2% disposal fee moves. REGA has 3 percentage points of statutory headroom.
  • The fractional-ownership mechanism flagged by Al-Suliman in December 2025 [S15] — the detail and the launch date are still outstanding.
  • First enforcement actions. No public auction under the misrepresentation provision has been reported as of 28 July 2026. The first will define how aggressively the beneficial-ownership disclosure rules are policed.
  • Premium Residency application volumes for the Real Estate Owner track through H2 2026, as the test of whether ownership converts into settlement.

Sources