Buying off-plan property in Jeddah and Riyadh

Off-plan buying in the Kingdom runs through the Wafi programme, among the most tightly regulated frameworks in the region. REGA licenses every project, and all buyer money sits in a bank escrow account released only against engineer-verified construction. The developer cannot take more than 5% of a unit’s value during marketing, and your funds track the build, not the developer’s balance sheet.

A Saudi off-plan plan typically front-loads little and spreads the rest across construction. Expect roughly 10 to 20 percent on booking, 30 to 40 percent in milestone instalments during the build, and 40 to 50 percent on handover, usually over 24 to 48 months, with some developers offering a post-handover tail. Because each instalment is milestone-linked and escrow-released, the plan is also your protection: you are paying for progress, verified before the money moves.

Diriyah is active and selling, with branded residences from Aman, Raffles, Armani and the Ritz-Carlton in build, and the Wadi Safar valley emerging as its ultra-prime address. Jeddah Central is delivering its first phase toward 2027, and Roshn supplies the mainstream pipeline. The one to read carefully is The Mukaab at New Murabba, whose construction was suspended in January 2026. It is a pause, not a cancellation, and the wider New Murabba district continues, but it is not selling residences, and any claim otherwise should be treated with care.

A hospitality brand on a residence is not decoration. It sets the design and service standard, manages the asset, and gives resale a recognised reference point: in Riyadh, branded residences have traded well above the wider market on a per-square-metre basis. The flag also carries a recurring service charge, so the premium is real but not free. We weigh the operator, the address and the holding horizon together, and remember that the residency route opens only once an off-plan home completes, titles and is free of finance.