Sultan Haitham City

Sultan Haitham City is Oman's flagship new sustainable smart city — a 14.8 sq km (1,500-hectare) master-planned development in Wilayat Al Seeb, west of Muscat, commissioned by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning and designed by global architects SOM. It is planned for around 20,000 homes and 100,000 residents across nineteen neighbourhoods, organised around a reinvented 7.5km wadi park, walkable green districts, solar power, smart mobility and integrated residential, commercial and cultural zones. It is a cornerstone of Oman Vision 2040, with phased delivery running through the late 2020s and beyond.

Yes — within designated freehold-eligible districts. Oman's expanded foreign-ownership framework under Vision 2040 (Royal Decree 38/2025) opened freehold ownership to buyers of all nationalities in approved zones, and Sultan Haitham City includes residential districts open to foreign buyers. The headline example is Hay Al Wafaa by Al Abrar Real Estate, which is marketed as a freehold-eligible community for all nationalities. As always in Oman, freehold eligibility is district- and project-specific, so confirm the exact ownership status of the individual building or villa before you buy.

Hay Al Wafaa is one of the headline residential neighbourhoods inside Sultan Haitham City, master-developed by Al Abrar Real Estate. It spans roughly one million sqm and is planned for around 1,800 homes — a mix of apartments, townhouses and villas — wrapped around landscaped courtyards, retail-lined ground floors and shaded community walkways. Inside its footprint sit two mosques and a Majlis, a school complex, kindergartens, an international hospital, children's play areas and social event halls, all connected into Sultan Haitham City's wider green corridors and cycling routes.

Published starting prices begin around OMR 27,800 for apartments and OMR 65,000 for three-bedroom villas/townhouses (Times of Oman). The first phase comprises about 375 units and is targeted for completion in 2026, with the surrounding roads, utilities and lighting finalised alongside the homes. Because this is an off-plan launch, available unit types, exact pricing and payment plans move with each release — Palmera can confirm current availability directly with Al Abrar Real Estate.

Oman levies 0% annual property tax, 0% personal income tax, 0% capital-gains tax and 0% inheritance tax, so rental income and any future resale gain are not taxed at the individual level. On a freehold purchase, foreign owners also gain inheritance rights to first-degree relatives. A qualifying real-estate investment of OMR 200,000 or more opens the path to Oman's Golden Residency — a 10-year renewable visa covering the investor and immediate family. One-time costs to budget for include 5% VAT on new-build instalments, a 3% title-deed registration fee on handover and modest notary fees.

Off-plan buyers in Oman are protected by the regulated escrow framework — developer collections are channelled through a project escrow account and released against construction milestones, so funds are tied to delivery progress. On the city's scale and momentum: infrastructure investment across Phases 1 and 2 is about RO 300 million, roughly 1,700 units have already been sold to buyers from more than 35 nationalities, eight developers are active inside the city, and part of the first phase is expected to open during 2026 (Oman Observer, Feb 2026). That combination of government backing, multiple developers and early sales is the core of the investment case while the rental market matures.