How to own a property in Makkah/Madina as foreigner?

In a historic move, Saudi Arabia has allowed both Muslim and Non-Muslim foreigners to own real estate property in Makkah and Madina. Here are the guidelines for owning a property in the two holy cities.

Rules to own a property in Makkah/Madina

1- Remember that foreigners are not allowed to buy real estate in Makkah or Madina directly; they can only own it by purchasing the shares of the listed companies that own properties in Makkah or Madina.

2- However, foreigners cannot own more than 49% of the company at any point in time or hold property in Makkah or Madina. An exception applies to strategic foreign investors.

3- You do not need to be a Muslim to buy the company’s shares that owns an investment in Makkah or Madina. Even Non-Muslims can do that. However, Non-Muslims cannot enter Makkah.

List of companies with properties in Makkah/Madina

As the rules are clear now, you need to find the companies that own property in Makkah and Madina, also listed on Tadawul. As of Jan 2025, the following listed Saudi companies have real estate properties in Makkah and Madina.

4090 – Taiba Investments manages a portfolio of 39 properties, many of which are situated in Makkah and Madina.

4100 – Makkah Construction and Development Company is the largest shareholder in Jabal Omar Development Company (an established company) responsible for executing the Jabal Omar project on Ibrahim Al-Khalil Street in Holy Makkah. 

4250 – Jabal Omar Development Co. developed and reconstructed the Jabal Omar area adjacent to Masjid al-Haram in Makkah from the western side.

4310 – Knowledge Economic City owns real estate properties in Madina with a fair market value of SR 7.5 billion as of Dec 31, 2023.

How to buy shares?

You can open a brokerage account with the stock market from your bank account and start buying shares of the listed companies.

For example, if you have an SNB bank account, you can easily open an SNB Capital account and start trading in Tadawul. Similarly, Al Rajhi bank customers can open an account with Al Rajhi Capital.

Source: Tadawul