Riyadh

Companies, mainly. The Regional Headquarters programme asks international firms to put their Middle East head office in Saudi Arabia if they want to work with government entities. More than 660 have taken the licence and over 400 have already moved to Riyadh. They arrive with senior staff on multi-year contracts, and those families cluster in a handful of districts near the business parks and the international schools. Demand of that kind is contracted and it stays put, which is why the good stock in those districts rarely sits empty.

Across the city, apartments average about SAR 6,245 per m² and villas about SAR 5,640 per m², with the prime districts well above both. Values kept climbing through 2026. Apartments were up 6.3% over the year to the first quarter and villas 4.9%. Branded and off-plan stock inside the approved zones sits at the top of the range.

Inside an approved zone, yes. The Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis has been in force since 22 January 2026, and the geographic zones document published on 23 June 2026 is the map that decides it. Riyadh has nine approved zones: King Abdullah Financial District, Diriyah Gate, New Murabba, Qiddiya, King Salman Park, King Salman International Airport, SEDRA, Sports Boulevard and the transit-oriented development sites along the metro. We check the zone against the title before anything else.

The real estate transaction tax is 5% of the transaction value, collected by ZATCA, and it replaced the 15% VAT that used to apply to these sales. VAT at 15% still applies to the services around a deal, so brokerage, legal work and valuation. On off-plan purchases the RETT is often written into the final instalment, so it is worth reading which side carries it.

Rents inside Riyadh's urban boundary are held at their 25 September 2025 level for five years, under a royal decree and a Council of Ministers resolution, and leases renew automatically. An owner gets a predictable income line instead of an annual negotiation, and a tenant knows the cost of living for the term. It applies to Riyadh alone and not to the rest of the Kingdom.

Residents apply through the Saudi Properties platform. Non-residents apply through a Saudi embassy or consulate. We handle the paperwork with you either way. The step that sets the timeline is the zone check against the title, not the application itself.