Hawana Salalah: The 2026 Buyer and Investor Guide to Oman's Largest ITC

As of July 2026, entry prices at Hawana Salalah start at OMR 65,500 (~USD 170,300) for a one-bedroom sea-view apartment at Riviera, OMR 89,914 (~USD 233,800) at Lubana Island within the Amazi master plan, and OMR 117,420 (~USD 305,300) for a completed two-bedroom home at Hawana Lagoons (developer pricing via the Palmera catalog and Metropolitan Premium Properties, both accessed 18 Jul 2026). Hawana Salalah is a designated Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC), which means buyers of any nationality receive full freehold title, and the purchase carries Oman’s 3% registration fee rather than Dubai’s 4%. The 10-year Oman Golden Residency property route starts at OMR 200,000 (~USD 520,000), so a single entry-level Hawana apartment does not qualify on its own; larger units or combined holdings can.

What Hawana Salalah is, and who builds it

Hawana Salalah is a 13.6 million m² master-planned resort town on the Arabian Sea coast of Salalah, in Oman’s Dhofar governorate, and Oman’s largest and most diversified Integrated Tourism Complex per its master developer (hawanasalalah.com; Muriya press release via PRNewswire, Jan 2023). Muriya is a joint venture between Orascom Development Holding (70%), the Swiss-listed resort-town developer, and OMRAN Group (30%), the Omani government’s tourism development arm, and reports more than USD 750 million invested across its Omani ITCs, which also include Jebel Sifah near Muscat (PRNewswire, Jan 2023).

On the ground, the destination combines over 7 km of white-sand beachfront, a 170-berth yacht marina, swimmable lagoons and canals, the Hawana Aqua Park, and five operating hotels alongside seven delivered residential communities. By 2025, Muriya and OMRAN reported roughly 950 homes handed over and more than 1,200 hotel rooms under five brands, which the group says is about half of Dhofar’s five-star capacity (OMRAN Group news, 2025).

The newest phase is Amazi, a 1 million m² beachfront district within Hawana Salalah announced by Muriya as its biggest residential project to date. Amazi is planned as four sub-districts: Amazi Rise on the hillside, Amazi Cove around canals, Amazi Islands on connected islands (where Lubana Island sits), and Amazi Beach on the oceanfront (PRNewswire, Jan 2023).

The khareef factor: why Dhofar is unlike anywhere else in the Gulf

Dhofar has a genuine climatic monopoly in the Arabian Peninsula. Each year from 21 June to 21 September, the khareef monsoon pushes moist Indian Ocean air against the mountains behind Salalah. Fog and drizzle turn the hills green, wadis run, and daytime temperatures settle around 26–28°C at the peak of the season while the rest of the Gulf sits above 40°C (Wego travel guide to Salalah summer weather, 2026). This is the only place in the GCC where “escape the summer” means driving into cool mist rather than flying to Europe.

That climate translates into measurable tourist flows. Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) counted 1,070,738 visitors to Dhofar during khareef 2025, up from 1,047,751 in 2024 and 962,196 in 2023 (NCSI via Muscat Daily, 11 Sep 2025). By 31 August 2025 the season had already drawn 1,027,255 visitors: 734,225 Omanis, 179,246 from other GCC states, and 113,784 other nationalities (Times of Oman, Sep 2025). That annual surge is the core of the investment case.

Access is straightforward: Hawana Salalah is about 20 km, roughly a 20-minute drive, from Salalah International Airport (hawanasalalah.com destination page, accessed 18 Jul 2026). Salalah itself is in Oman’s far south, a domestic flight from Muscat, which matters for both tourism logistics and the resale audience.

Freehold, taxes, and the 10-year Golden Residency

Non-GCC foreigners can only buy freehold property in Oman inside designated ITCs, under the framework of Royal Decree 12/2006. Hawana Salalah is one of those ITCs, so any nationality can hold full freehold title with a registered deed, inheritable and resellable.

On residency: buying here can support a 10-year Oman Golden Residency, property route from OMR 200,000 in a designated ITC (relaunched 31 Aug 2025; the older 250k/500k two-tier thresholds you may see elsewhere were the pre-2025 programme). The relaunched Golden Residency Programme, announced at the Sustainable Business Environment forum in Salalah and administered by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) through omanresidence.gov.om, offers a single 10-year renewable residency across seven qualifying routes, each from OMR 200,000 (~USD 520,000). The real-estate route requires completed residential, commercial or tourism unit(s) with a valid title deed inside an ITC. Family coverage is broad: spouse, children and first-degree relatives are included with no age or number restrictions (omanresidence.gov.om; Gulf News, 1 Sep 2025; Middle East Briefing, 1 Sep 2025).

Be honest with the arithmetic here. Hawana Salalah’s entry apartments sit well below the OMR 200,000 threshold, so an entry-level purchase alone does not confer the Golden Residency. Buyers targeting residency need larger Amazi villas or a combination of completed, titled units reaching OMR 200,000, and off-plan units only count once completed with a title deed; confirm current villa pricing against the threshold with the developer before relying on eligibility. For full programme mechanics, see our Oman Golden Visa guide.

The running tax picture is simple: 0% personal income tax and 0% capital-gains tax on property today (Oman’s first personal income tax, Royal Decree 56/2025, takes effect in 2028 and targets only top earners, roughly the top 1%). Residential property sales and leases are exempt or zero-rated for Oman’s 5% VAT. The one transaction cost that always applies is the 3% registration fee on the property value (Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning fee schedule, corroborated by Trowers & Hamlins and market guides, accessed Jul 2026).

What homes cost at Hawana Salalah in July 2026

Verified asking prices across the four projects currently listed on Palmera, all developer-priced (Palmera Oman catalog, accessed 18 Jul 2026; Riviera corroborated by Metropolitan Premium Properties, accessed 18 Jul 2026):

Project	Type	From	Status
Riviera	1-bed sea-view apartments	OMR 65,500 (~USD 170,300)	Off-plan
Lubana Island at Amazi	1–3 bed island homes	OMR 89,914 (~USD 233,800)	Off-plan, handover 2027
Amazi	1–5 bed chalets and villas	OMR 109,889 (~USD 285,700)	Off-plan, handover 2027
Hawana Lagoons	2-bed lagoon apartments	OMR 117,420 (~USD 305,300)	Completed

Two context points. First, this is one of the cheapest beachfront freehold entry tickets in the Gulf: comparable branded waterfront resort stock in Dubai starts several multiples higher. Second, the spread between off-plan Amazi and completed Hawana Lagoons is modest, so buyers who need a title deed now (for residency, or to rent immediately) are not paying a large completion premium. Hawana Lagoons was delivered ahead of its construction schedule, a useful data point on Muriya’s delivery record (Muriya press release via Zawya and Oman Observer). Prices are entry figures for the cheapest available unit type and move with releases; treat them as a mid-2026 snapshot and confirm live availability on the Hawana Salalah catalog page.

Rental income: a strong season, an honest off-season

The rental case at Hawana Salalah is seasonal by design, and it should be underwritten that way.

The demand side is real. Khareef brings over a million visitors to Dhofar in roughly ten weeks (NCSI figures above), and Hawana holds a concentrated share of the governorate’s quality accommodation. Gulf families drive or fly in for the cool weather precisely when the rest of the region is at its hottest, which inverts the usual Gulf hospitality calendar: Hawana’s peak is June–September, with a second, milder shoulder in the October–April winter season when Europeans seek warm, green Dhofar.

Owners do not need to self-manage. Wateera Property Management, Muriya’s property management arm, runs holiday and long-term rentals across Hawana Lagoons, Marina Apartments, Laguna Gardens and Forest Island, with published holiday rates starting around OMR 55 (~USD 143) per night for studios and OMR 200+ for larger villas (hawanasalalah.com rentals page, accessed 18 Jul 2026). This gives absentee owners a turnkey path into the destination’s hotel-grade guest flow.

On returns, keep projections conservative. Palmera’s Oman rental yield research puts ITC short-let gross yields in a 5–10% band, with Muscat long-term averages around 6–8% gross (Palmera Insights, Oman rental yields and ROI 2026, 21 Jun 2026). Sales agents quote projected yields of “up to 10%” for Riviera; treat that as a developer-side projection for good khareef seasons, not a guaranteed run rate (Metropolitan Premium Properties, accessed 18 Jul 2026). The honest counterweights: occupancy and nightly rates soften materially outside khareef and the winter shoulder; the visitor base is heavily domestic and GCC (over 85% of khareef 2025 visitors), loyal but price-sensitive; and net yields land below gross once service charges, management fees and furnishing are deducted. Request Wateera’s management terms and the service-charge schedule in writing before you model returns.

Hotels and amenities on the ground today

Hawana Salalah currently operates five hotels: the 577-room Fanar Hotel & Residences, the 422-room Salalah Rotana Resort, the adults-only 82-room Juweira Boutique Hotel on the marina, The Club by Fanar, and the 21-bungalow Souly Lodge eco-retreat, together exceeding 1,100 rooms; the master plan calls for seven hotels at build-out (hawanasalalah.com hotels pages, accessed 18 Jul 2026; PRNewswire, Jan 2023). One clarification worth making, since older coverage mentioned a Club Med at Hawana Salalah: no Club Med operates here as of July 2026, and Club Med’s only announced Oman resort is Club Med Musandam in the country’s far north, with construction from early 2026 and opening targeted for 2028 (Club Med corporate announcement, accessed 18 Jul 2026).

Beyond hotels, the amenity set is the deepest in southern Oman. Hawana Marina has around 170 berths taking yachts up to 60 m and is the only yacht marina in Salalah (Dockwalk superyacht marina listing; Muriya’s destination page cites 171 berths). The Hawana Aqua Park, opened 28 December 2017 as Oman’s first water park, covers about 65,000 m² with a wave pool, race slides and a slide tower, and remains the country’s only aqua park (Orascom Hotels Management press note and CLADglobal coverage; hawanasalalah.com). A water taxi links the Fanar, marina, Juweira and Rotana waterfronts, and the community runs on golf-cart internal transport with retail, restaurants and beach clubs along the marina promenade.

How to buy at Hawana Salalah, step by step

1. Choose new or resale. New units come directly from Muriya’s sales office (off-plan phases at Amazi, Lubana Island and Riviera, plus any remaining completed stock). A secondary market exists in delivered communities such as Hawana Lagoons, Laguna Gardens and Forest Island.
2. Reserve and sign. Off-plan purchases follow the standard Omani ITC flow: reservation deposit, then a sale and purchase agreement with a staged payment plan tied to construction milestones through handover (current Amazi and Lubana handovers are scheduled for 2027 per developer listings, accessed 18 Jul 2026).
3. Pay the registration fee. Ownership transfer is registered with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning for a 3% fee on the property value. There is no annual property tax in Oman.
4. Receive the title deed. Completed units transfer with a freehold title deed in the buyer’s name, available to all nationalities inside the ITC. The deed is what counts for Golden Residency eligibility, so off-plan buyers should plan residency timelines around handover, not purchase.
5. Set up management. If you intend to rent, contract Wateera or another manager and choose your rental mode (holiday let versus long-term) before khareef, when the demand peak arrives.

Palmera lists Hawana Salalah projects at developer pricing with no buyer commission, and can arrange remote purchases, which are common here since most buyers are not Dhofar residents — talk to the Oman desk.

Risks and trade-offs to price in

• Seasonality is structural. The khareef surge is the yield engine, and it lasts roughly ten weeks. Underwrite on realistic annual occupancy, not July occupancy.
• Resale liquidity is thinner than Dubai, and thinner than Muscat. Salalah is a single-destination market a domestic flight from the capital; exits can take longer and price discovery is coarser. The buyer pool skews to GCC lifestyle purchasers and yield investors rather than a deep global secondary market — the Oman vs Dubai comparison prices this in.
• Residency threshold gap. Entry units do not reach the OMR 200,000 Golden Residency line on their own; plan unit selection accordingly if residency is the goal.
• Service charges and management fees reduce gross yields; get the current schedules in writing from Muriya/Wateera before committing.
• Build-out risk. Roughly 3.2 million m² of the 13.6 million m² master plan is developed to date per market reporting, so future phases will keep adding supply; delivery pace is a variable, partially offset by Muriya’s ahead-of-schedule record at Hawana Lagoons.