Buying property in Madinah as a non-Saudi.

The Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, approved by Royal Decree M/14, entered into force on 22 January 2026 (REGA). Across most of the Kingdom it works through designated zones that REGA publishes. Makkah and Madinah are treated separately. There, ownership is restricted to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals, whether they reside inside or outside the Kingdom, with CMA-licensed funds and listed entities permitted under conditions. Muslim individuals are not confined to designated zones in the holy cities, and non-Muslims are prohibited from owning there entirely (King & Spalding).

Every acquisition by a non-Saudi must be registered to be legally valid, and the process runs through REGA’s non-Saudi ownership service and the Saudi Properties platform. The national picture, including the designated zones elsewhere, is in our report on the ownership law.

On 29 September 2026, Al Majdiah announced that phase one of Meshraf Al Majdiah, its villa and apartment neighbourhood in Al Hadra, east Madinah, had closed in full: 304 homes for a total of SAR 231,466,000, every one sold to non-Saudi investors (Al Majdiah). That is an average of about SAR 761,000 per home, a figure Omnia derives from the two published totals. The developer linked the sale to its appearance at a Saudi property exhibition in London in late August 2026, and named Meshraf among its schemes open to foreign ownership.

One sale is not a market, and the announcement does not say where the buyers live or how the homes were split between villas and apartments. What it does show is that the legal opening has turned into sales within nine months, at a scale of hundreds of homes, and that the buyers came from outside the Kingdom.

The same developer has signalled more to come. On 15 September 2026 Al Majdiah announced a memorandum of understanding with Knowledge Economic City and Capital Hill for a residential and commercial project inside the Knowledge Economic City masterplan, within the Haram boundary and close to Multaqa Al Madinah (Al Majdiah). The initial space programme describes about 2,700 homes of varied sizes on roughly 97,000 square metres of developable land, about 8,000 square metres of ground-floor retail and more than 3,500 parking spaces, at a stated value of SAR 2.8 billion.

Two details matter to an international buyer. The announcement says the project is aimed primarily at non-Saudi Muslim customers, in line with the new ownership law. And the proposed structure would hold and fund the project through a closed-ended real estate fund established under Capital Market Authority rules. A memorandum of understanding is a statement of intent, not a contract or a sales launch: there are no prices, unit plans or dates yet.

Budget beyond the price. Most sales carry the 5% real estate transaction tax, and non-Saudis face a disposal fee of up to 5% on top, so a non-Saudi buyer should budget roughly 10% in combined transaction taxes and fees, plus registration costs. The fee rules are set out in our ownership-law report. If the purchase is financed, the lender’s requirements for a non-resident are a separate question to settle early.

Most new homes in Madinah, including Meshraf, are sold off-plan. In Saudi Arabia off-plan sales are licensed under the Wafi programme, which requires the developer to hold buyer payments in a project escrow account released against certified construction progress. Our guide to buying off-plan covers how to check a licence and what the sale contract should contain. For Meshraf specifically, Al Majdiah has not published a completion date, and the later phases are not yet listed with prices or plans.

• Eligibility. Confirm that you, or the buying entity, qualify to own in Madinah under the current regulations, before any money moves.
• Registration. Ask how and when the purchase will be recorded, since an unregistered acquisition by a non-Saudi is not legally effective.
• The licence and the escrow. For an off-plan home, see the Wafi licence and confirm where stage payments are held.
• Timing. Ask for the licensed construction timetable; a brochure date is not a contractual one.
• The full cost. Add roughly 10% for taxes and fees, plus registration, to the list price.

This report uses sources available on 1 October 2026. The ownership rules repeat Omnia’s approved summary of Royal Decree M/14, which rests on REGA’s announcements and published legal analysis. The market evidence is two primary announcements from Al Majdiah, quoted with their dates; the average price per home is Omnia’s arithmetic from the published totals and is labelled as such.

The Omnia Desk will review this report in January 2027, or sooner if REGA updates the implementing regulations for the holy cities. To see the homes behind the evidence, start with Meshraf Al Majdiah.