Orientation
Most clients begin with the area, not the unit. In Diriyah, the area is the whole argument: the place the Saudi state began, being rebuilt as the city’s cultural quarter.
Diriyah sits along the Wadi Hanifah escarpment, fifteen to twenty minutes northwest of the King Abdullah Financial District. At its heart is At-Turaif, the mud-brick citadel where the first Saudi state was founded in 1727, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010. Around it, a company owned by the Public Investment Fund is master-developing 14 square kilometres into a low-rise district of homes, hotels, museums and shops, all built in the Najdi vernacular and designed to be walked, not driven.
What is open today is the cultural core. At-Turaif and the Bujairi Terrace dining precinct have operated since December 2022, joined by Diriyah Art Futures, the Zallal scheme and the 134-room Bab Samhan hotel (Diriyah Company, 2026). The rest is an active construction site at peak phase: over 60,000 workers and roughly 90 tower cranes were on site in early 2026 (Gulf Construction, 2026). Riyadh drives in for dinner and heritage; nobody lives here yet, with first handovers due from late 2026.
The ownership position is what changed in 2026. Saudi Arabia’s foreign-ownership law took effect on 22 January 2026, and the executive regulation approved on 23 June 2026 names Diriyah Gate among Riyadh’s designated zones. That makes this one of the few addresses in the capital where non-Saudis, resident or not, can buy. Everything on sale is primary-market product from the master developer, so the desk’s work here is allocation and verification, not portal browsing.
- District type
- Heritage giga-project
- Stock
- Off-plan, master-developer only
- Pace
- Building; first handovers from late 2026
- Masterplan
- 14 sq km, low-rise Najdi
- KAFD
- 15 to 20 minutes
- Airport
- 35 to 40 minutes
Life here
Evenings first. The neighbourhood follows.
Riyadh already treats Diriyah as its night out. Living here comes next.
For now, Diriyah keeps a visitor’s rhythm rather than a resident’s. The city arrives in the evening and at weekends, for dinner on the Bujairi terraces and slow walks through At-Turaif. The residential day, the school run and the corner errand, begins when the first owners move in from late 2026. Three notes on how the place actually feels.
The terraces
Bujairi Terrace holds more than twenty restaurant and retail concepts facing At-Turaif across the wadi. It has been the city’s destination-dining address since December 2022, and it fills after sunset.
The citadel
At-Turaif is the reason the district exists: Salwa Palace and the mud-brick lanes of the first Saudi capital, restored and open to walk. Few addresses anywhere put a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the end of the street.
The wadi
Wadi Hanifah gives Diriyah real topography: an escarpment, palm groves and parkland, with the old Diriyah town alongside. The project wraps a settled governorate, not empty desert.
Developments here
A short, honest shelf.
We list a select few developments in any city, the ones we would put a client into ourselves, and we do not yet list inventory inside Diriyah. Releases here move through the master developer in allocations, so the useful route is a conversation with the desk.
Nothing listed here right now. The desk covers this area daily, including stock that never reaches a portal.
Off the listings
Diriyah sells in releases, not on portals.
Tell us what you are after and we will tell you what is actually open, what sold out, and what is coming next from the master developer.
Ask what’s availableSchools & everyday life
The school map, ahead of the move.
Diriyah is designed to become a primary home for around 100,000 residents, and the first school flying the district’s name is already open. Until handovers begin, treat this as the forward map a family checks before committing, not a settled catchment.
Schools within reach
- King’s College Riyadh (Diriyah campus)British curriculum, ages 3 to 13 · DiriyahYoung campus still building out year groups
- British International School RiyadhBritish curriculum, ages 3 to 18, not-for-profit · North Riyadh, roughly 20 to 30 minutesLong-established expat choice
- American International School RiyadhUS curriculum, PK to Grade 12, non-profit · Riyadh, roughly 25 to 35 minutesServes the diplomatic and expat community
A working list, not a ranking. The Diriyah campus currently runs to Year 7, so older students need schools elsewhere in Riyadh. We confirm curricula, fees and waiting lists before you commit.
What it costs to live, not just to buy
- Average Riyadh apartment rent, up 19.6% year on year
- SAR 30,832 a year
- Average Riyadh villa rent, up 17.2% year on year
- SAR 88,715 a year
- Cheapest published buy-in to Diriyah itself, Manazel Al-Hadawi apartments
- From SAR 1.6m
City-level 2026 readings, indicative. Diriyah-specific rents and running costs settle only once homes hand over. Your advisor confirms current numbers in your currency.
A closer reading
How to read Diriyah.
A working brief on the district: where it came from, what the stock actually is, and how far along the build really stands. About 9 minutes.
Reviewed by The Omnia Riyadh desk · July 2026
iriyah is the only address in this portfolio where the history is the masterplan. The first Saudi state was founded here in 1727, governed from the mud-brick citadel of At-Turaif and the 1776 Salwa Palace, and that citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010, now anchors a 14 square kilometre rebuild run by a Public Investment Fund company on a USD 63.2bn masterplan (Diriyah Company; Construction Briefing, 2026). Everything else about the district, the low-rise design code, the pedestrian streets, the scarcity of what is for sale, follows from that starting point.
The birthplace, and what has opened
The Diriyah Gate Development Authority was created in 2017 under Vision 2030 to restore the site and master-develop the land around it. The delivery vehicle, Diriyah Company, opened the first public-facing pieces in December 2022: the restored At-Turaif district and the Bujairi Terrace dining precinct, more than twenty restaurant and retail concepts facing the citadel. Diriyah Art Futures, the Zallal mixed-use scheme and the 134-room Bab Samhan, the district’s first hotel, have followed (Diriyah Company; AGBI tracker, 2026). The effect is deliberate: Diriyah became Riyadh’s heritage and leisure destination years before it delivered a single home.
The rest of the district is a construction site at full stretch. Over 60,000 workers and roughly 90 tower cranes were reported on site in early 2026, with logistics routed so At-Turaif and Bujairi keep operating through the build (Gulf Construction; Cityscape coverage, 2026). The design code is fixed and unusual for the region: everything low-rise, everything in the Najdi vernacular of the old town, and the commercial heart, Diriyah Square, laid out as a fully walkable, car-free precinct of about 400 outlets (Diriyah Company, 2026). The target end-state is a district of around 100,000 residents and 178,000 jobs (Diriyah Company; Construction Briefing, 2026). Those are developer targets, not delivered facts, and worth holding as such.
The history is the masterplan. What you are buying is a position in it, before the district exists.
What you are actually buying
Everything for sale is master-developer product from Diriyah Company, with Saudi Sotheby’s International Realty appointed on the branded lines. There is no fragmented secondary market, because nothing has handed over. The top tier is branded residences in Najdi style, and it is deliberately scarce, a few hundred units in total: The Ritz-Carlton Residences, 140 villas of three to four bedrooms whose first release of 106 sold out rapidly; nine Baccarat Residences of 1,029 to 2,438 square metres; ten Corinthia Residences; Raffles Residences from SAR 10.2m; and a Four Seasons private residences joint development (Diriyah Company; Saudi Sotheby’s, 2025 to 2026).
Below that sits the first release without a hotel brand, Manazel Al-Hadawi: 239 apartments and penthouses in phase one from SAR 1.6m, unveiled in November 2025 and the clearest signal of a broader mid-market pipeline to come (Argaam, November 2025; Arab News). The buyers to date are overwhelmingly Saudi and GCC: Diriyah Company reported over USD 4bn of residential sales by January 2026, almost all closed before the foreign-ownership door opened that month (AGBI, January 2026). For context, Riyadh apartments average roughly SAR 6,700 per square metre and villas SAR 7,000 citywide (JLL and Knight Frank derived data, 2026). Diriyah’s stock trades far above those averages; the price is scarcity, brands and the heritage setting, not typical Riyadh product.
Where it is going, and what could slow it
The momentum markers are real. A USD 600m contract signed in July 2025 is building Diriyah Square’s 73 buildings and its roughly 400 retail units (Zawya and Reuters, January 2026), with eight new brands announced for the Square in 2026, Adidas, Spinneys and Alo Yoga among them. First residential handovers are scheduled from around October 2026, beginning with the Ritz-Carlton villas, and the hotel line deepens through 2026 with The Langham Diriyah and The Chedi Wadi Safar due to join the open Bab Samhan (Gulf Construction; AGBI, 2026). And on 23 June 2026 the Cabinet-endorsed executive regulation named Diriyah Gate among Riyadh’s approved foreign-ownership zones.
The risks are the usual giga-project ones, and they deserve plain statement. Early owners will live beside an active construction site for years as later phases complete toward the end of the decade. One state-owned developer controls supply, phasing, pricing and community management, and no completed stock has yet traded secondary, so exit pricing and achievable rents are unproven. The wider Riyadh market also cooled sharply in early 2026: transactions fell roughly 54% year on year in Q1, with apartment prices down 10.8% even as villas edged up 2.6% (JLL via Argaam, Q1 2026). Scarcity product can behave differently from a city average, but the cycle is part of any honest read.
Who it's for
Start with why Diriyah, not which unit.
Tell us which sounds like you, and an advisor tailors the guide, the releases and the numbers to your situation.
The second home
An address in the story.
A home beside At-Turaif, in a district built to be walked. Handovers begin from late 2026, so this is a commitment to a place still becoming itself.
- Heritage setting
- Walkable
- From late 2026
The branded buyer
Scarce by design.
Ritz-Carlton, Baccarat, Corinthia, Raffles, Four Seasons: a few hundred branded units in total, sold through the master developer, with the first villa release already gone.
- Branded residences
- Allocation led
- Low supply
The investor
Early, with eyes open.
Over USD 4bn sold before foreign ownership even opened, but no resale record yet. We set the sovereign-backed case against the untested exit, honestly.
- PIF developer
- No resale record
- Zone eligible
Two minutes
Get matched to the right release.
A shortlist of current and coming releases, with pricing and an honest read. A person replies, not an autoresponder.
What to know
The practical part, before you look.
Diriyah is a primary-market district: you buy from the master developer, inside one of Riyadh’s named foreign-ownership zones, at prices set by scarcity rather than the city average. Here is the honest version of what the numbers currently say.
Ownership & rules
- Who can own
- Saudi and GCC nationals can already own. For other foreign buyers the framework took effect on 22 January 2026, and the Cabinet approved the designated geographic zones in June 2026, administered by REGA. The zones are drawn on maps, not district names, so we confirm a specific building against the REGA record rather than relying on the neighbourhood.
- What you hold
- Freehold title where a building sits inside a designated zone. Established stock is already titled, so ownership tends to be cleaner to verify than on unbuilt land.
- Residency
- The Premium Residency real estate route starts at SAR 4m of appraised, unmortgaged residential property and holds for as long as eligibility, including the ownership, is maintained. Cash routes exist alongside it for those who prefer not to anchor residency to one home.
- Taxes
- A one-off 5% real estate transaction tax on purchase, and that is broadly the headline cost. There is no recurring tax on a completed home and no individual capital gains tax when you sell one.
- Letting
- Long lets register through the Ejar platform. Short-let host permits are currently restricted to Saudi nationals, though a licensed operator route exists. We map which applies before you bank on rental income.
What it costs to buy
- Entry price, Manazel Al-Hadawi, the first release without a hotel brand239 apartments and penthouses, phase one. Diriyah Company via Argaam, November 2025
- From SAR 1.6m
- Cumulative residential sales across Diriyah’s launches to dateLed by the sold-out Ritz-Carlton villas. Diriyah Company CEO via AGBI, January 2026
- USD 4bn+
- Riyadh city average per m², apartments to villas. Not Diriyah-specificJLL and Knight Frank derived city data, 2026. Diriyah stock trades far above this
- SAR 6,700 to 7,000
Rules and figures reflect the framework as last verified and can change. Your advisor confirms the current position, and eligibility for a specific building, before you commit.
Where it sits
On the wadi, with the capital fifteen minutes away.
- King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD)
- 15 to 20 minutes
- Diplomatic Quarter
- About 15 minutes
- King Saud University
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Kingdom Centre, Olaya
- 25 to 30 minutes
- King Khalid International Airport
- 35 to 40 minutes
In the district
- At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage district
- Bujairi Terrace
- Wadi Hanifah parkland
- Diriyah Square, under construction
- Diriyah Art Futures and Bab Samhan hotel
The wider picture
The city
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia’s capital and the centre of Vision 2030’s spending. Riyadh holds the Kingdom’s deepest housing market, and Diriyah is its designated cultural quarter.
Read the city guide
The country
Saudi Arabia
The ownership law took effect on 22 January 2026, and the 23 June 2026 zone approval names Diriyah Gate. For property in the Kingdom, we check the live REGA map, residency routes and resale picture before anything else.
Read the market guideFrom the desks
Read around Riyadh.
Investor guides
What it costs to buy property in Saudi Arabia
RETT, registration, agency and running costs: the true all-in figure on a residence.
Costs · Saudi ArabiaRead
Investor guides
How to buy property in Saudi Arabia
Reservation to registered title at the Real Estate Registry: the stages, timelines and who you need.
Process · Saudi ArabiaRead
Investor guides
Can foreigners buy property in Saudi Arabia?
Foreign individuals can own freehold in designated areas, with 2026 rules widening access in Riyadh and Jeddah.
Ownership · Saudi ArabiaReadInvestor guides
Buying off-plan property in Jeddah and Riyadh
Escrow protection, payment plans and what a Four Seasons or operator flag is worth at handover.
Off-plan · Saudi ArabiaRead
Investor guides
Premium Residency through property in Saudi Arabia
How a qualifying purchase routes to renewable or permanent residency for you and your family.
Residency · Saudi ArabiaRead
Reports
Wadi Safar Saudi Arabia: the new standard for Riyadh high-end living.
A market thesis on Wadi Safar, Saudi Arabia: why low-density mansions, the Diriyah heritage setting and Vision 2030 alignment, with Rayana and Trump International, point to the new standard for Riyadh high-end living.
Saudi ArabiaRead
Frequently asked
Before you enquire.
Can foreign buyers own property in Diriyah?
Yes. Saudi Arabia’s Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis took effect on 22 January 2026, and the executive regulation approved by Cabinet on 23 June 2026 names Diriyah Gate among Riyadh’s designated zones, open to non-Saudis including non-residents. A disposal fee of up to 5% of property value can apply, and transactions run through REGA-supervised channels. We confirm each unit’s tenure and zone status in writing before you proceed.
What can you actually buy in Diriyah today?
Master-developer product from Diriyah Company: branded residences (Ritz-Carlton villas, Baccarat, Corinthia, Raffles from SAR 10.2m, Four Seasons) and, since November 2025, apartments and penthouses without a hotel brand at Manazel Al-Hadawi from SAR 1.6m. There is no meaningful resale market yet because nothing has been handed over.
When do the first homes complete?
First handovers are scheduled from around October 2026, starting with the Ritz-Carlton Residences villas. Most of the district, including Diriyah Square’s roughly 400 shops and restaurants, is still under construction, so early owners move into an evolving site.
Is Diriyah already a place you can live in and walk around?
Partly. At-Turaif, Bujairi Terrace, Diriyah Art Futures and the Bab Samhan hotel are open and busy in the evenings, and the district is designed to be fully pedestrianised. But the residential neighbourhoods, schools and daily-life retail are still being built, with completion phased toward the end of the decade.
How does Diriyah pricing compare with the rest of Riyadh?
It sits well above the city average. Riyadh apartments average roughly SAR 6,700 per square metre and villas SAR 7,000 (JLL and Knight Frank derived data, 2026), while Diriyah entry pricing starts at SAR 1.6m for apartments and rises past SAR 10m for branded residences. You are paying for scarcity, brands and the heritage setting, not typical Riyadh stock.
How far is Diriyah from central Riyadh and the airport?
About 15 to 20 minutes by car to KAFD and the Diplomatic Quarter, 25 to 30 minutes to the Olaya business spine, and roughly 35 to 40 minutes to King Khalid International Airport.
Who is the developer, and how credible is delivery?
Diriyah Company, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, runs the entire USD 63.2bn masterplan. Delivery credibility is strong at the sovereign level: Bujairi and At-Turaif opened in 2022, hotels are opening, and over 60,000 workers are on site. But everything depends on one state developer’s phasing, and first residential handovers only begin in late 2026.
Continue exploring
Other Riyadh areas.
Private client advisory, GCC
The Omnia Riyadh desk
Diriyah is bought on allocation and read on facts: what is open, what is building, and what the zone map actually says. We start there, not with a render.
Start with the area
Let's start with Diriyah, not the apartment.
Tell us how you would use it. We will send the Diriyah guide, the buildings worth seeing, and an honest read on where ownership stands.