After decades of tightly controlled land policy, Saudi Arabia will allow foreigners to buy property in a move that could redraw the kingdom’s urban and economic landscape and test the limits of its top-down reform agenda.

Set to take effect in January 2026, the new law, passed on July, 8, 2025, grants foreign nationals the right to buy property across the country, including in designated zones of Mecca and Medina. It's a striking departure from decades of tightly controlled land ownership and another signal that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is willing to override conservative norms in the pursuit of Vision 2030.

While the move is being touted as a win for investors and a step toward housing market maturity, it also raises questions: How will Saudi citizens respond? What religious or political limits will still apply? Can this shift deliver meaningful gains without triggering domestic backlash?

Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, minister of municipal and rural affairs and housing, called the law an extension of legislation “designed to grow the sector and encourage direct foreign investment" in a statement earlier this month.