From 2026, foreign citizens and entities will be able to own real estate in Saudi Arabia. The country’s leadership is preparing to make relevant amendments to the legislation in this regard.

Axar.az reports that this was stated by the country’s Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Majed Al-Hogail.

The minister noted that foreigners will be able to own real estate anywhere except in the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, and Riyadh. He added that in certain areas of the four aforementioned cities, foreign citizens will be allowed to own real estate. In general, foreigners residing in the country will be allowed to purchase only one property.

At the same time, Fahad bin Suleiman, Executive Director for Foreign Ownership Affairs at the Saudi Real Estate Authority, emphasized that the areas in the mentioned cities where foreigners will be allowed to own property will be assessed, and an announcement will be made soon, together with new regulations.

It is noted that a tax not exceeding 5% will be applied to real estate purchases by foreign citizens. The main purpose of the new system is to increase the share of the real estate sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to create diversified non-oil revenue sources for the country’s economy.