MULKIYA · GUIDES
Buying Property in Saudi Arabia as a GCC National
GCC nationals buy under their own ownership statute, which continues alongside the M/14 law, and broadly hold the same rights as Saudis across the Kingdom.
The GCC class
The six Gulf states sit inside one ownership framework. A national of the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar or Oman buying in Saudi Arabia is not processed as a foreigner under the new non-Saudi ownership law. GCC nationals are covered by their own GCC ownership statute, which continues alongside Royal Decree M/14, the law that opened the market to other foreign buyers on 22-01-2026. Under that statute the GCC class broadly buys as Saudis do. Your passport puts you in the closest class to a Saudi national that the system has.
What the class can buy
The 100+ designated zones, endorsed by Council of Ministers Decision 43 on 23-06-2026, govern the other foreign classes. The GCC class is not confined to them. A GCC national may buy residential and commercial property broadly as a Saudi does, inside the zones and outside them, without applying for the one-home approval that iqama-holding resident expats need outside the zones. One condition never moves: registration of the purchase in the official real-estate registry is a validity condition for every class, this one included.
Lighter prerequisites
Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations sets three prerequisites for a non-resident foreign individual: a digital identity obtained through Saudi embassies, a Saudi bank account, and a Saudi mobile number linked to that identity. The GCC class runs lighter. Its prerequisites are a GCC national ID, a Saudi bank account in your name, and registration in the real-estate registry. No embassy identity step, and no Saudi mobile number is listed for the class. All payments still move through official electronic payment channels.
Makkah and Madinah
The two holy cities keep their own rule for every class. The designated holy-city zones are open to Muslim buyers, and the status is confirmed at purchase. A Muslim GCC national can therefore own in Makkah and Madinah; a non-Muslim buyer cannot own there under the current rules, whatever the passport. Foreign companies are excluded from both cities entirely.
Costs, and the market you enter
Purchase costs are the same for every buyer. The real-estate transaction tax is 5% of the price, legally the seller's liability and commonly priced into the deal. Brokerage is capped at 2.5% plus VAT on the commission, payable only if a broker is engaged. When a non-Saudi owner sells, a 2% disposal fee applies in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, and 0% elsewhere. The market itself is cooling: the official residential price index recorded -3.6% year on year for Q1 2026. Gross rental yields sit in a band of roughly 7-9% per licensed yield data, a range to verify per asset, and residential and commercial rents inside Riyadh's urban boundary are frozen for five years by royal order of 25-09-2025.
The honest next step
Most GCC buyers still run the eligibility check, because the answer names the class, the prerequisites and the holy-city rule with citations to the law, not to an agent's opinion. Mulkiya is not the seller and not the broker, and it takes no commission or success fee; the listings you see come directly from developers, and licensed Saudi partners execute the regulated steps. The check is seven questions about your status and your target property, answered by a deterministic rules engine against the law.
Do GCC nationals have to buy inside the designated zones?
No. The 100+ designated zones govern the other foreign classes. GCC nationals are covered by their own ownership statute, which continues alongside M/14, and broadly buy as Saudis do, inside the zones and outside them. Registration in the official real-estate registry remains a validity condition of every purchase.
Do GCC nationals need the embassy digital identity?
No. The three prerequisites of Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations, the digital identity, the Saudi bank account and the Saudi mobile number, apply to non-resident foreign individuals. The GCC class needs a GCC national ID, a Saudi bank account in the buyer's name, and registry registration.
Can a GCC national buy in Makkah or Madinah?
A Muslim GCC national can. The designated holy-city zones are open to Muslim buyers, with the status confirmed at purchase. Non-Muslim buyers cannot own there under the current rules, and foreign companies are excluded from both cities.
Do GCC nationals pay the same taxes and fees as Saudis?
At purchase, yes: the 5% transaction tax applies to the deal whatever the passport, legally the seller's liability, and brokerage is capped at 2.5% only if a broker is engaged. On exit, the 2% non-Saudi disposal fee applies in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah.
Can a GCC national get a Saudi mortgage?
Not as a non-resident today. Saudi bank lending is structurally closed to non-residents whatever their nationality, so a GCC buyer living outside the Kingdom should plan cash-first. Payments move through official electronic payment channels.