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SUMMARY
Yes. If you are a Muslim individual living abroad, you can buy qualifying property in Madinah today without first becoming a Saudi resident.
The opening is real, but it is not citywide. Foreign individual ownership in Madinah is tied to approved geographic zones, so the exact parcel matters more than the district name used in a property advert.
The biggest change is that an Iqama is no longer the gatekeeper for an overseas buyer. A Muslim non-resident can enter the ownership system directly, while even a foreign resident cannot simply buy anywhere in Madinah.
Madinah remains more restrictive than most of Saudi Arabia. Foreign individuals must be Muslim, and the wider rule that can allow a resident foreigner to own one personal home outside designated zones does not extend to Makkah or Madinah.
Foreign buyers can acquire actual ownership in qualifying cases, not just a long usufruct. But the system can support different real-estate rights, so the contract and Real Estate Registry record need to show exactly what the buyer is receiving.
The overseas process is now practical enough to use: non-residents can obtain the required Saudi digital identity, open a Saudi bank account under the dedicated banking framework, link a Saudi phone number and continue through Saudi Properties and the registration system.
Remote buying is therefore much more realistic than before, although it is still risky to promise that every bank, developer or legal arrangement can be completed with zero physical steps. Identity checks, signatures or powers of attorney can still create friction.
Financing has not opened as quickly as ownership. Saudi mortgage products for foreigners still tend to revolve around local residency, salary, employer and credit criteria, so an overseas buyer should not assume that legal eligibility comes with easy bank finance.
For a covered Madinah transaction, the current headline tax-and-fee stack is 7%: 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax plus the 2% REGA fee set for Madinah. That is a useful budgeting figure, but it is not automatically the buyer's full closing bill because contractual allocation, exemptions and other transaction costs still matter.
Off-plan property adds a second test. The unit must be inside a foreign-ownership zone and the project must also carry the required Saudi off-plan approvals; clearing one of those checks does not clear the other.
The practical order is simple: check the official zone first, buyer eligibility second, the registered right and off-plan status third, and financing after that. Madinah is now a functioning international ownership market, but still a narrow and tightly controlled one.
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Can foreigners actually buy property in Madinah now?
Yes. Foreigners can now own property in Madinah, but for an individual buyer the opening is limited to Muslims buying inside the city's approved foreign-ownership zones.
Saudi Arabia has made a real break with the old system. The previous foreign-ownership framework largely shut individual foreigners out of property ownership in Madinah. The replacement Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis is now in force and allows non-Saudis to own property or other real-estate rights inside geographic areas approved by the Council of Ministers.
Madinah received its own set of designated areas under that framework. REGA, the Saudi Real Estate General Authority, now directs buyers to Saudi Properties, the official portal showing where non-Saudi ownership is allowed and which rights are available.
The change has moved beyond a government announcement. The law is active, the zones have been published, the application portal is running, and Saudi banking rules have since been updated specifically for non-residents who want to own Saudi property.
The restrictions are still substantial. A foreign individual buying in Madinah must be Muslim, the exact property must fall inside an approved zone, and the transaction must go through the official ownership and registration system.
| Question | Before the new regime | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Can a foreign individual own in Madinah? | Generally blocked | Yes, in designated zones |
| Must the individual be Muslim? | Madinah was heavily restricted anyway | Yes |
| Is Saudi residency required? | Foreign access was extremely limited | No |
| Is all of Madinah open? | No | No |
| Is there an official application route? | No broad non-resident route | Yes, through Saudi Properties |
Can I buy property in Madinah if I live abroad?
Yes. A Muslim foreigner can currently buy eligible Madinah property while living outside Saudi Arabia, and an Iqama is not required just to qualify for the ownership route.
REGA says the new system covers both residents inside Saudi Arabia and individuals living abroad. Its official ownership matrix is particularly clear: a non-resident foreign individual can own inside designated Madinah zones when that individual is Muslim.
That is a much bigger change than simply giving expatriates with Saudi jobs more buying rights. Someone based in London, Paris, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta can potentially qualify without first moving to Saudi Arabia.
Living abroad does add administrative steps. The implementing regulations require a non-resident individual to obtain a Saudi-approved digital identity, open a Saudi bank account in their own name and obtain a Saudi phone number linked to that identity before acquiring the property.
| Buyer profile | Eligible inside an approved Madinah zone? | Iqama required? |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim foreign resident in Saudi Arabia | Yes | Already held as resident |
| Muslim foreigner living abroad | Yes | No |
| Non-Muslim foreign resident | No | Iqama does not change the rule |
| Non-Muslim foreigner living abroad | No | No |
| Qualifying Saudi company with foreign shareholders | Separate company route | Separate rules |
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Do I have to be Muslim to buy property in Madinah?
Yes. Foreign individual ownership in Madinah is currently reserved for Muslims, whether the buyer lives in Saudi Arabia or abroad.
Article 2 of the new ownership law says that a non-Saudi individual's right to own property or acquire other real rights in Makkah and Madinah is limited to Muslim natural persons.
Residency, nationality and wealth cannot override this requirement. A non-Muslim expatriate living in Saudi Arabia does not gain Madinah ownership rights through an Iqama, while a Muslim living abroad can qualify without Saudi residency.
Companies are treated differently under the law, which is why we need to be precise when people say that “foreigners” can own in Madinah. For the normal individual buying an apartment or home, Muslim status is a hard eligibility condition.
Can foreigners buy anywhere in Madinah now?
No. Foreign ownership in Madinah currently works through approved zones, so the exact location of the property can decide whether the purchase is legal.
The new law gives the Council of Ministers power to define the geographic areas where non-Saudis can own, together with the types of property rights, ownership limits, usufruct periods and other conditions.
Madinah has another unusually strict feature. A foreigner who legally lives in Saudi Arabia can, under certain conditions, own one personal residence outside the designated zones elsewhere in the Kingdom. The law specifically excludes Makkah and Madinah from that privilege.
An Iqama therefore does not let someone buy a random Madinah apartment outside the approved map.
This is where buyers can get caught by overly broad marketing. “Madinah is open to foreign buyers” is true only after we add the geographic condition. The official Saudi Properties map should be checked against the actual property, rather than relying on the district name used in an advertisement.
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Which Madinah areas are open to foreign property buyers?
The official Saudi Properties framework currently shows ten Madinah areas or projects where qualifying foreign ownership is allowed.
The published Madinah list includes Al-Ghurrah, Al-Madinah Zone 1, Al-Madinah Zone 2, Al-Mahwa, Dar Al-Hijrah, Diyar Al-Muqarr, Downtown Madinah, Knowledge Economic City, Mishraf and Rua Al-Madinah.
That gives foreign buyers a much wider choice than a single pilot project. It includes central redevelopment, master-planned communities and areas farther from the core of the city.
Knowledge Economic City is one of the clearest examples because it is already a large mixed-use development with residential projects. Rua Al-Madinah is a major development east of the Prophet's Mosque. Other designated areas extend the new ownership market farther across the city.
We would still check the official map for the individual parcel. Being “near Knowledge Economic City” or marketed under the name of a designated district does not prove that the exact unit sits inside the approved boundary.
| Madinah area currently listed | General profile | Individual foreign buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Economic City | Large mixed-use master plan | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Rua Al-Madinah | Major central redevelopment | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Downtown Madinah | Central urban development | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Dar Al-Hijrah | Planned development area | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Mishraf | Residential area | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Al-Ghurrah | Designated zone | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Al-Mahwa | Designated zone | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Diyar Al-Muqarr | Designated zone | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Al-Madinah Zone 1 | Official geographic zone | Muslim buyers can qualify |
| Al-Madinah Zone 2 | Official geographic zone | Muslim buyers can qualify |
Am I really buying freehold property in Madinah?
Yes, real ownership is available in qualifying Madinah zones; foreign buyers are no longer limited to the old idea of simply getting a long usufruct right.
Saudi law now allows non-Saudis to acquire ownership as well as other rights in rem. Older discussions of foreign property in Saudi Arabia often revolve around usufruct, which gives someone the right to use property for a defined period without giving them the same ownership right.
The current system can support both structures depending on the geographic zone and property. Saudi Properties shows the permitted type of right and, where relevant, the maximum period allowed for usufruct.
A buyer should ask one very simple question before paying a deposit: what exact right will appear in the Real Estate Registry?
If the answer is ownership, we are talking about actual registered property ownership. If the contract grants usufruct, the buyer has a different right with its own duration and conditions. The project brochure should never be the final source for that distinction.
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Does an Iqama or Premium Residency let me buy more property in Madinah?
Only to a limited extent. Saudi residency can make the paperwork easier, but an Iqama does not let a foreign individual ignore Madinah's ownership zones.
That is unusually important in Madinah. Legally resident foreigners can own one home outside designated foreign-ownership zones in much of Saudi Arabia. Makkah and Madinah are expressly excluded from that rule.
Premium Residency sits under its own legislation and can provide additional property rights elsewhere in Saudi Arabia. The new foreign-ownership law preserves those better rights where another law grants them.
For a straightforward Madinah purchase, however, a Muslim non-resident already has access to the designated-zone route. Obtaining Premium Residency first is therefore unnecessary simply to become eligible for an apartment inside one of those approved areas.
The biggest practical advantage of ordinary residency is administrative convenience. Residents can enter the Saudi Properties process using their Iqama, while buyers living abroad first need the non-resident digital identity and banking setup.
What do I need before buying Madinah property from abroad?
A foreign buyer living abroad currently needs three Saudi building blocks before completing a Madinah purchase: an approved digital identity, a Saudi bank account and a Saudi phone number linked to that identity.
These requirements come directly from the implementing regulations for non-resident natural persons.
REGA says the non-resident journey begins through Saudi embassies and representations abroad, where the buyer starts the process of obtaining the digital identity used for the property system.
Saudi Arabia has also filled in an important practical gap since the ownership law took effect. The Saudi Central Bank updated its account-opening rules so banks can open accounts for non-residents covered by the new foreign-property regime. The framework requires identity information, contact information and other compliance documents and is designed specifically to allow property-related banking.
All financial transactions connected with the ownership process must go through approved electronic payment channels.
| Requirement for a non-resident buyer | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| Saudi-approved digital identity | Identifies the overseas buyer in the property system |
| Saudi bank account in the buyer's name | Handles the regulated property payments |
| Saudi phone number | Must be linked to the digital identity |
| Saudi Properties application | Checks the buyer and property against the ownership rules |
| Real Estate Registry completion | Makes the acquired right legally registered |
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Can I buy Madinah property without flying to Saudi Arabia?
A large part of a Madinah purchase can now be handled remotely, although we would not assume that every transaction can be completed without a single visit.
REGA has built the foreign-ownership process around Saudi Properties, and non-residents can begin through Saudi diplomatic missions abroad before continuing electronically.
The later SAMA banking update is another strong practical sign. Saudi regulators created a bank-account route specifically for non-resident property buyers rather than requiring every buyer to become a resident first.
The ownership portal is connected with the Real Estate Registry, and the implementing regulations require property-related financial transactions to move through electronic payment systems.
A specific bank, developer or legal arrangement can still require additional identity checks, signatures, powers of attorney or physical steps. The practical answer is that Saudi law and infrastructure now support an overseas buyer journey. We just would not promise that a particular developer can complete every document remotely until we see its process.
Can I get a Saudi mortgage for a Madinah property if I live abroad?
Possibly, but a normal Saudi mortgage is currently much harder for a non-resident to obtain than the property itself.
That difference can surprise overseas buyers. Saudi Arabia has clearly created a legal path for non-residents to own property and even a special banking route to handle the transaction. Mainstream residential mortgage products, however, still tend to be designed around people who live and work in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi banks already finance expatriates, but the usual criteria revolve around residency, salary, employer eligibility, domestic credit history, down payment and affordability.
A Saudi account opened under the new non-resident property framework therefore solves a payment problem; it does not automatically produce a mortgage approval.
For someone earning entirely outside Saudi Arabia, we would currently plan the purchase around cash, developer instalments or a lender that has explicitly approved non-resident financing. A broker saying “foreigners can now buy” has answered the legal question, not the financing one.
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Should I budget 7% in Saudi taxes and foreign-buyer fees?
For a covered Madinah transaction, 7% is the current headline statutory tax-and-fee stack to model: Saudi Arabia has a 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax and the implementing regulations set REGA's additional non-Saudi disposition fee at 2% in Madinah.
The 2% figure is worth updating because the underlying ownership law originally allowed REGA to charge up to 5%. The final implementing regulations use 2% for Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah.
ZATCA separately imposes the 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax, commonly called RETT, on taxable real-estate dispositions.
So a SAR 2 million transaction produces a headline calculation of SAR 100,000 at 5% and SAR 40,000 at 2%, or SAR 140,000 in total.
We would still avoid automatically adding SAR 140,000 to an advertised price and calling that the buyer's closing bill. The legal liability, contractual allocation and any applicable exemptions need to be checked for the specific transaction. Brokerage, legal work, mortgage costs, service charges and developer fees can also sit outside these two headline percentages.
| Property value | 5% RETT | 2% REGA non-Saudi fee | Headline combined amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAR 1,000,000 | SAR 50,000 | SAR 20,000 | SAR 70,000 |
| SAR 1,500,000 | SAR 75,000 | SAR 30,000 | SAR 105,000 |
| SAR 2,000,000 | SAR 100,000 | SAR 40,000 | SAR 140,000 |
| SAR 3,000,000 | SAR 150,000 | SAR 60,000 | SAR 210,000 |
| SAR 5,000,000 | SAR 250,000 | SAR 100,000 | SAR 350,000 |
Can I buy an off-plan apartment in Madinah from abroad?
Yes. A qualifying Muslim buyer abroad can buy an eligible off-plan Madinah unit, but we would check the project's off-plan licence separately from its foreign-ownership status.
Two regulatory questions are involved.
First, can this foreign buyer own this exact property under the Madinah geographic-zone rules?
Second, is the developer legally authorised to sell the property before completion?
Saudi Arabia regulates off-plan sales through REGA's off-plan system. That framework covers developer licensing, project approval, escrow arrangements and buyer protections.
A project can therefore sit inside a foreign-ownership zone while still needing the proper off-plan approvals before a buyer should send substantial money. Likewise, an authorised Saudi off-plan development does not automatically become available to foreign individuals when its location falls outside the Madinah ownership zones.
For an overseas buyer, we would verify both records before treating a reservation as safe.
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How can I check whether a Madinah apartment is really foreign-buyable?
Check the exact property against Saudi Properties and the Real Estate Registry; a broker's claim that a project is “foreign ownership approved” is not enough.
The Madinah rules are location-specific, and Saudi Properties is the official portal showing the designated ownership areas, permitted rights and relevant restrictions.
The Real Estate Registry adds the second layer. Under the foreign-ownership law, a non-Saudi's ownership or other real right becomes valid when it is registered according to the Saudi real-estate registration rules.
That makes the due-diligence sequence fairly concrete. We want the exact parcel inside the approved zone, the buyer category to qualify, the seller to hold the right being sold, the contract to state clearly whether the buyer receives ownership or usufruct, and any off-plan project to carry the required approval.
As we saw above, Madinah now has ten approved areas. That should never be simplified into ten neighbourhood names that automatically make every unit inside the general area safe to buy.
| What we would verify | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Exact location on Saudi Properties | Is this property inside an approved Madinah zone? |
| Buyer eligibility | Can this Muslim non-resident own this property? |
| Real Estate Registry record | Who legally owns the property and what rights exist over it? |
| Type of right in the contract | Is the buyer getting ownership, usufruct or another right? |
| Off-plan approval, where relevant | Is the developer authorised to sell before completion? |
| Payment instructions | Are funds going through the required regulated channels? |
Does buying property in Madinah give me Saudi residency?
No. Buying a Madinah property does not automatically give a foreign owner Saudi residency.
The ownership law says acquiring Saudi real estate gives the foreign buyer the rights attached to that real-estate interest. It does not create additional immigration privileges.
Saudi residence programmes, including Premium Residency, have their own rules and qualification routes.
This creates an interesting situation for buyers abroad: you may now be allowed to own an apartment in Madinah without living in Saudi Arabia, while the apartment itself does not give you the right to become a Saudi resident.
Anyone planning to spend long periods in Madinah should therefore look at immigration status separately from the property purchase.
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Is foreign property ownership in Madinah actually working yet?
Yes. The Madinah foreign-ownership reform is operational now, although the market is still young and the number of genuinely available projects is much smaller than the number of properties across the city.
We can be fairly confident on the legal side because several separate pieces have now fallen into place. The new ownership law is active. REGA accepts applications from residents and non-residents. Saudi Properties publishes the geographic ownership framework. Madinah has designated areas. The implementing regulations spell out what non-residents need before buying. SAMA has since created the matching bank-account rules.
That sequence is important. Six months earlier, someone could reasonably have worried that the headline reform would take a long time to become usable. These days the question has shifted toward finding eligible inventory, checking individual projects and arranging financing.
The market is still controlled. Most of Madinah remains outside the normal individual foreign-ownership route, Muslim status remains compulsory for foreign individuals, and overseas mortgage access has not caught up with legal ownership.
We can therefore treat Madinah as a real international ownership market today, but still a narrow one.
Can I buy property in Madinah now if I live abroad?
Yes. If you are a Muslim individual living abroad, you can currently buy qualifying property in Madinah without first obtaining Saudi residency.
Three conditions decide most cases.
The property has to fall inside one of Madinah's approved foreign-ownership zones. The individual buyer has to be Muslim. A non-resident then has to complete the Saudi digital-identity, bank-account and phone-number setup and take the transaction through the official Saudi Properties and registration process.
An Iqama is no longer the gatekeeper. The map is.
That is the biggest practical change under the new Saudi rules. A Muslim buyer living thousands of kilometres away can now legally own an eligible Madinah apartment, while an expatriate already living in Saudi Arabia still cannot simply choose any property in the city.
For anyone considering a specific Madinah unit today, we would check the official zone and registered property first, the tenure and off-plan status second, and financing only after those points clear. If those checks work, living abroad is no longer a reason the purchase cannot happen.
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OUR METHODOLOGY
This analysis tests whether a foreign buyer living abroad can actually buy property in Madinah today under Saudi Arabia's new non-Saudi ownership regime. We separated the headline legal opening from the practical questions that determine whether a transaction can really be completed: buyer eligibility, geographic scope, the type of right acquired, non-resident onboarding, registration, payments, taxation, off-plan approvals and financing.
We prioritized recent first-hand Saudi sources and treated the reform as operational only when several parts of the system lined up. The core legal sources were REGA's current Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, its implementing regulations, and REGA's January 22, 2026 implementation announcement.
For the location question, we relied on the official Saudi Properties geographic-zone map and Saudi Properties portal, not broker descriptions or broad neighbourhood labels. The point is to verify the actual property against the approved map because city-level eligibility does not make every parcel in Madinah foreign-buyable.
We treated ownership and usufruct as separate legal outcomes. REGA's law and Q&A framework allow non-Saudis to acquire ownership as well as other real rights, while the Real Estate Registry is the key reference for what right is legally registered over the property.
For overseas execution, we used the implementing regulations together with the Saudi Central Bank's July 1, 2026 account-opening update. That combination is important because it shows that the system is built not only for residents but also for non-resident buyers who need a Saudi digital identity, bank account and linked phone number to complete the regulated process.
For transaction costs, we used ZATCA's Real Estate Transaction Tax rules for the 5% RETT and REGA's implementing regulations for the additional 2% non-Saudi fee applicable in Madinah. The 7% figure in the article is therefore a headline statutory stack, not an estimate of every possible closing cost.
Off-plan purchases were checked separately through REGA's Off-Plan Sales and Lease platform. We did not treat foreign-ownership eligibility as proof that a developer is authorised to sell an unfinished unit; both the zone and the project approval need to clear.
We also kept ownership rights separate from immigration and financing. The Saudi Premium Residency Center was used for the residency side, while published mortgage criteria from Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi National Bank were used to test whether mortgage access has expanded as quickly as legal ownership. It has not, particularly for buyers earning entirely outside Saudi Arabia.
For the character of the live Madinah developments mentioned in the article, we used the official project portfolios of Knowledge Economic City and Rua Al Madinah. Those sources help describe the projects themselves, while the ownership map remains the final check for foreign-buyer eligibility.
The overall conclusion comes from combining those layers rather than relying on one announcement. Saudi law now permits qualifying foreign ownership in Madinah, the designated zones are published, the application and registry infrastructure is live, non-resident banking rules have been added, and tax and off-plan frameworks are in place. The remaining bottlenecks are narrower: finding eligible inventory, confirming the exact registered right and arranging finance where needed.
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