Saudi Arabia to Allow Foreigners to Purchase Property

In a game-changing move, Saudi Arabia is reportedly drafting new real estate laws that will allow foreigners to purchase property anywhere in the Kingdom, as reported by Saudi Gazette.

CEO of the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), Abdullah Alhammad, stated that the new legislation is under process, which will grant the right to purchase property to non-Saudi nationals.

After the enactment, foreigners will be able to own property across the Kingdom, including the two holy cities, Makkah and Madinah. The law will cover both residential and commercial real estate.

Abdullah, speaking about the law, confirmed that foreigners will be granted this right under the new law. He further stated that the negative impacts of foreign ownership have also been taken into consideration in order to avoid future problems that may emerge from it.

He made these remarks while speaking at a Saudi television program. In view of the 45% increase in villa prices during the last two years, Abdullah stated that skyrocketing prices are not good for the growing property market of the Kingdom.

A recent survey by Knight Frank, in collaboration with YouGov, revealed that Saudi residents’ demand to purchase a house has plummeted this year due to high prices. Last year, the demand for residential units stood at 84%, which has now decreased to 40%.

The Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank, Faisal Durrani, attributed this dip in demand to the increasing real estate prices. Due to the increase in villa prices, which rose by 45% in the last two years to reach SAR 5,000 per square meter, the possibility of owning a home or a second home has become a challenge for many households in Riyadh, he added.

Faisal further noted that this has led to a 34% decline in the total number of homes sold in the city last year. Similarly, in Jeddah, there has been a decrease of 16% in the number of residential units sold.