The Gulf Buyer Costs & Ownership Tracker.

Dubai’s official buyer guidance states that sale registration is 4% of the purchase price, divided equally between seller and buyer unless the parties agree otherwise. Market contracts can allocate the full amount to the buyer, so the statutory split should not be mistaken for the commercial bargain. Foreign freehold is limited to designated areas.

Abu Dhabi permits non-UAE nationals to acquire and dispose of principal and accessory real rights inside designated investment areas. Its registration schedule sets a sale fee within a 1% to 4% band, normally divided equally unless agreed otherwise. The current operational unit and off-plan schedule uses 2%, but the transaction type must be checked before modelling the charge.

Ras Al Khaimah’s Lands and Properties Sector lists a 2% seller charge and a 2% buyer charge, plus fixed plan and title-deed charges, in its sale-service schedule. Non-Emiratis may own in named freehold areas. The result is a 4% headline transaction charge across the two parties, but with a different published allocation from Dubai.

The residence route is federal, while service-card detail can differ. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security publishes an AED 2 million real-estate threshold. Dubai Land Department’s current investor service describes a renewable 10-year permit and accepts mortgaged property with a bank no-objection letter showing the paid and outstanding amounts. The federal and Dubai cards are not worded identically, so financing treatment and duration should be confirmed through the issuing emirate before a buyer relies on them.

Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Transaction Tax is 5% of the total disposal value under the ZATCA RETT framework. The non-Saudi ownership law also permits an additional fee of up to 5% on a non-Saudi disposition. A foreign buyer should therefore model a potential 10% statutory layer before transaction-specific professional and financing charges, then confirm how the live registration record applies it.

The non-Saudi real-estate ownership law is zone-based. Ownership and other real rights depend on the designated geography, permitted right, buyer category and the registered property. A legally resident foreign person also has a limited one-residence route outside designated areas, subject to the law’s exclusions and conditions. Makkah and Madinah carry additional restrictions. The official Saudi Properties service is the transaction-level source of record. A district name alone does not prove access.

The current Real Estate Owner Premium Residency product sets a SAR 4 million residential-property threshold. It now describes two qualifying categories: completed residential property that is fully owned and unencumbered, and one off-plan residential unit from a REGA-approved developer where at least SAR 1 million or 10% of the value, whichever is higher, has been paid without financing or mortgage. Residence remains tied to ownership or use, and the product conditions must be checked at application.

Qatar’s Ministry of Justice service guide states a 0.25% registration charge on the property value. That is the lowest headline transfer or registration charge in this tracker, but it is not the whole acquisition budget and it does not expand where a non-Qatari may buy.

The Ministry’s non-Qatari ownership service provides freehold and usufruct access in designated areas and qualifying units. The list is not static: the official Aqarat legislation register records a 2026 decision amending the earlier geographic framework. Buyers should use the current MOJ and Aqarat schedules rather than rely on an old count of zones.

Property worth at least QAR 730,000 supports the published real-estate residence route, subject to an annual presence condition. At QAR 3.65 million, the Ministry describes benefits associated with permanent-residence-card holders, including health, education and investment benefits. That higher tier is not citizenship and does not remove the separate eligibility, documentation and presence tests.

Oman’s official sale service says foreign nationals may purchase land within Integrated Tourism Complexes. The dedicated ITC ownership service publishes a 3% value-based registration charge, alongside fixed application, non-Omani form, title-deed and contract charges. The 3% is therefore the headline statutory comparison, not the final completion statement.

There are two residence concepts to keep separate. The government’s property-owner residence service describes a renewable two-year route for an owner of a residential unit in an ITC and does not publish a minimum property value on that service card. Separately, Invest Oman’s current Golden Residency launch sets a minimum OMR 200,000 commitment across seven investment routes, including completed ITC real estate, for a renewable 10-year residence. A buyer should not use the Golden Residency threshold as a claim that every OMR 200,000 purchase qualifies.

Bahrain’s Survey and Land Registration Bureau publishes a 2% registration fee, reduced to 1.7% where the application is filed within 60 days of the notarised contract. Foreign ownership is permitted in specified mixed-use, investment and tourism areas, summarised in the government’s property-ownership guide. Property-level eligibility still needs to be confirmed before reservation.

The dedicated official Golden Residency eligibility portal now states a BHD 130,000 property threshold. Its 26 November 2025 announcement says the floor was reduced from BHD 200,000. However, the separate NPRA property-owner service card still displays BHD 200,000. The tracker reports the newer BHD 130,000 portal figure, flags the conflict, and schedules Bahrain for the earliest review. Buyers should confirm the live application rule before committing.

Kuwait generally limits real-estate ownership to Kuwaitis. Narrow exceptions can apply to diplomatic premises and, with government approval and reciprocity, to a non-Kuwaiti Arab acquiring one residential property within statutory limits. The regional public-authority summary of the Kuwait ownership framework is included because no current Kuwait government explainer with equivalent detail was identified in the source check.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Justice lists a 0.5% sale registration charge, but quoting that as an available foreign-buyer cost would be misleading. It applies only where the transaction itself is legally permitted. No property-linked investor residence route was identified on current official government services, so the tracker records none rather than mapping an ordinary employment, family or business residence category onto property ownership.

Changes recorded in this edition. The Saudi Premium Residency source now includes a qualifying off-plan category. Oman’s current Golden Residency launch uses an OMR 200,000 floor. Bahrain’s dedicated programme portal uses BHD 130,000 while an NPRA card remains at BHD 200,000. Qatar’s 2026 legislation register shows that its designated-area framework has been amended. These are the moving parts most likely to make an undated comparison wrong.

A material official change triggers an earlier review. Project marketing, adviser commentary and press coverage can alert the desk, but they do not replace a regulator, ministry, tax authority or programme source in the tracker.

Profile: a non-GCC foreign individual acquiring residential property. The headline acquisition charge is the statutory transfer, registration or transaction-tax rate that can be compared across markets. It excludes broker commission, legal advice, mortgage registration, valuation, developer administration, service charges, insurance, VAT where transaction-specific, residence application charges and future holding or disposal costs.

Ownership position describes the current route at a high level. It does not confirm that a named building, unit, title, land interest, buyer nationality or proposed use is eligible. Property-linked residence describes a published programme threshold or route, not citizenship, automatic approval or a substitute for the programme’s financial, documentary, presence, family, health, good-character and renewal conditions.

Use this page to compare the first-order legal and cost shape, then move to the country guide for the transaction. Read what it really costs to buy property abroad for the wider budget, routes to residency through property investment for programme concepts, and the foreign-ownership primer before taking transaction-specific legal, tax and immigration advice in the relevant jurisdiction.