Can Foreigners Buy Property in Saudi Arabia? The 2026 Law

Yes. Since 22 January 2026, non-Saudis can own real estate in Saudi Arabia under the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, Royal Decree M/14 of 14 July 2025 (SPA, carrying REGA's statement). But the precise answer to "can foreigners buy property in Saudi Arabia" is: yes in law, pending in geography. Ownership applies only inside designated zones defined by a Geographic Zones Document REGA promised for the first quarter of 2026; as of 28 July 2026, no primary REGA or SPA text confirms its publication.

Key figures at a glance

Can foreigners buy property in Saudi Arabia in 2026? What the law says

Royal Decree M/14, approved on 14 July 2025, comprises 15 articles and was published in the Official Gazette, Umm Al-Qura, on 25 July 2025; its provisions set implementation 180 days after publication (REGA Q&A). REGA confirmed the law entered force on 22 January 2026 (SPA).

It replaces the 2000 regime, Royal Decree M/15, which was narrower on every count. A foreign developer then needed a licensed project of at least SAR 30 million, developed within five years, and Makkah and Madinah were closed outright to non-Saudi ownership, easement or usufruct except by inheritance (old law text, Ministry of Justice via MISA).

The geographic logic has inverted: the 2000 law permitted ownership everywhere except the two holy cities, while the 2026 law permits it only inside zones a separate document will define, yet partially opens Makkah and Madinah for the first time (REGA comparison table). Everything hangs on where the lines get drawn.

Who qualifies, and what they can own

REGA's Q&A lists the eligible categories: non-Saudi individuals, companies and non-profit entities, international missions and organizations (on reciprocity, with Foreign Ministry approval), Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders, and funds or SPVs with non-Saudi equity holders (REGA Q&A, as of 25 Jul 2025).

Buyers can take full ownership or lesser in-rem rights (usufruct, easement) across "all types of real estate available for ownership, as specified in the geographical scopes document", which again routes the answer through the pending zones list (REGA Q&A). Two older regimes survive intact: the 2011 GCC ownership statute, and the Premium Residency Permit Law, which already lets premium residents own property outside Makkah, Madinah and border areas (REGA Q&A; Premium Residency Permit Law via MISA).

Where the zones stand: REGA's timeline vs the headlines

Riyadh and Jeddah are eligible "within specific areas"; Makkah and Madinah are restricted to Muslim individuals and to Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders, inside specific areas only (REGA Q&A, 25 Jul 2025). The zones themselves, with maps, ownership caps and permitted right types, arrive in a document approved by the Council of Ministers and published by REGA.

On the day the law took effect, REGA said it "will be announced in the first quarter of 2026" (SPA, 22 Jan 2026). That quarter has come and gone.

Omran verification note. As of 28 July 2026 we find no primary REGA or SPA text confirming the Geographic Zones Document has been published. REGA's zones portal at saudiproperties.rega.gov.sa/zones is live but renders its map client-side, with no machine-readable zone list. Zone counts circulating on advisory websites trace to no REGA or SPA text, and a later Cabinet-approval date in secondary coverage conflicts with REGA's own Q1 timeline. We treat the zones list as pending.

The operative instrument for a buyer is not the law but the zones document; until that is published and verifiable, "Saudi Arabia opens to foreign buyers" describes a framework, not a mapped market.

Fees, penalties, and the application route

Buying as a non-Saudi costs 10% of the transaction in fees: the 5% real estate disposition tax everyone pays, plus an additional non-Saudi disposition fee of up to 5% (REGA Q&A).

Enforcement has real teeth. General violations run from a warning up to a fine of 5% of the value of the in-rem right concerned, capped at SAR 10 million. Misleading information draws up to SAR 10 million plus forced sale of the property at public auction (REGA Q&A). The implementing regulation fixing exact fee percentages and oversight mechanics was due within 180 days of the effective date, a clock that ran out on 21 July 2026, a week before our as-of date.

Applications run through the Saudi Properties digital portal, live since day one (SPA, 22 Jan 2026).

The market the law is walking into

The law opened the door into a cooling room. Ministry of Justice data put total real estate transaction value at SAR 82.2 billion in H1 2026, down 51.5% year on year, with deals down 26.4% to 161,900 (MOJ via Arab News). GASTAT's Real Estate Price Index turned up 1.3% year on year in Q2 2026, residential at +2.6% but villas down 9.7% (GASTAT, Q2 2026). The wider picture sits in our Saudi residential market review.

With the zones unpublished, the foreign-buyer channel was effectively shut through H1 2026; the halving of transaction value is a domestic story, and anyone crediting or blaming the ownership law for the 2026 tape is early by at least two quarters.

The policy intent is explicit: pull foreign capital into a sector worth 6.5% of GDP at current prices in 2024 (GASTAT via Arab News), with FDI stock already at SAR 1.05 trillion by end Q3 2025, up 10% year on year (SAMA via Arab News). The zones document decides how much of that flow real estate can carry.

Six months in, the numbers nobody has published

The honest scorecard for the law's first half-year is mostly blank:

• Applications through the Saudi Properties portal. REGA has published no count of applications submitted or approved.
• Foreign purchase volumes. No MOJ or GASTAT series splits transactions by buyer nationality, so the law's absorption is unmeasurable from public data.
• Zone counts and maps. Pending, as above; nothing machine-readable on REGA's portal.
• Premium Residency real-estate thresholds. The minimum-value and fee figures in circulation trace only to advisory sites; we carry them as n/a.

Private brokerage surveys will happily fill these blanks with forecasts; we will not borrow those numbers. Once REGA or the MOJ publishes application counts or nationality-split transactions, we will model attribution against SAMA's quarterly FDI series as a labelled Omran estimate, derivation shown. Ask us to scope a foreign-ownership data briefing if the zones document and its first prints matter to your underwriting.

FAQ

Can foreigners buy land in Saudi Arabia? In principle yes: the law covers all real estate types available for ownership, subject to the zones document's locations, caps and right types (REGA Q&A, 25 Jul 2025). Undeveloped land inside designated city zones also attracts the white land fee, 2.5% to 10% of land value annually by priority tier once holdings reach 5,000 sqm (MOMAH via Amlak, effective from Aug 2025).

Can foreigners buy an apartment in Saudi Arabia? Yes, from 22 January 2026; REGA names Riyadh and Jeddah as open within specific designated areas (REGA Q&A). Much new apartment stock sells pre-completion through Sakani, which carried over 248,000 off-plan units as of August 2025 (MOMAH); see how off-plan sales work in Saudi Arabia.

Can foreigners buy commercial property in Saudi Arabia? Yes. Eligible categories include non-Saudi companies headquartered abroad, Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders, and funds or SPVs with non-Saudi equity (REGA Q&A, 25 Jul 2025). The 10% total disposition fee applies.

Can foreigners buy property in Makkah or Madinah? Only some. Ownership in the two holy cities is restricted to Muslim individuals and Saudi companies with non-Saudi shareholders, within specific areas (REGA Q&A). Still a liberalisation: the 2000 law barred any non-Saudi ownership there except by inheritance (old law, via MISA).

How does a foreigner actually apply? Through the Saudi Properties digital portal, live since 22 January 2026: residents with their residency ID, non-residents with an embassy-issued digital ID, and companies without a Saudi presence via an Invest Saudi unified number (SPA).

Does buying property grant residency in Saudi Arabia? Not automatically. The Premium Residency Permit Law runs on a separate track: premium residents may own residential, commercial and industrial real estate outside Makkah, Madinah and border areas, with usufruct of up to 99 years inside the two holy cities (Premium Residency Permit Law via MISA). The residency product's minimum property value and fee appear in no primary source we can verify: n/a.

Sources

• Saudi Press Agency (SPA), REGA statement on entry into force, Saudi Properties portal, zones timeline (22 Jan 2026): link
• REGA, official Q&A on the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis (decree date, 15 articles, Gazette date, 180 days, eligible categories, zones mechanics, Makkah/Madinah rule, 10% fee, penalties): link
• REGA, Saudi Properties zones portal (live, checked 28 Jul 2026): link
• Ministry of Justice (via MISA), Law of Real Estate Ownership and Investment by Non-Saudis, 2000 (SAR 30m floor, 5-year rule, Makkah/Madinah bar): link
• Premium Residency Permit Law (via MISA), ownership rights and 99-year usufruct: link
• Ministry of Justice Real Estate Market, H1 2026 transactions (via Arab News): link
• GASTAT, Real Estate Price Index Q2 2026 (xlsx): link
• GASTAT, GDP 2024 and real estate share (via Arab News): link
• SAMA / GASTAT, FDI stock and net inflows to Q3 2025 (via Arab News): link
• MOMAH, Sakani off-plan platform statistics (27 Aug 2025): link
• MOMAH White Land and Vacant Real Estate Program, fee tiers (via Amlak Newspaper): link