Some expats buy houses in citizens’ names

Real estate developers claim 20 percent of expatriates who buy properties in the Kingdom register them in the names of Saudi nationals.
Regulations in Saudi Arabia allow expatriates to own homes or other properties for investment as long as they pay a fee of 10 percent of the property’s value.
According to Saudi Arabia’s foreign investment regulations, an expatriate licensed to practice a business or a profession is entitled to own the property for living in or to practice their business or profession. They can also buy homes to accommodate employees.
Expatriates are not allowed to own properties in Makkah and Madinah.
Abdullah Al-Ahmari, head of the real estate appraisal committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said registering an expatriate’s property under the name of a Saudi national is a clear violation of regulations in the country that could result in the confiscation of the property and a fine for all involved.
However, expatriates with high incomes mostly buy real estate out of Saudi Arabia, particularly in their home countries, because they do not know if they will continue living in the Kingdom.
Their deals to buy properties abroad are estimated at more than SR 8 billion, mostly in Egypt, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Salem Radwan, manager of a real estate company in Jeddah, said members of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia own many homes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Many Sudanese nationals in the Kingdom own apartments in Cairo, he added.
Talal Samarqandi, head of JCCI’s engineering office committee and former real estate committee member, said a foreigner wanting to own a property in Saudi Arabia had to meet stipulations like having a good financial record and approval from the Ministry of Interior.
He added: “There are a lot of foreigners who were born and raised here. This segment is particularly interested in owning the place they live in instead of the rented units that can become a burden on their monthly incomes.”
Chairman of JCCI’s real estate committee Muhammad Al-Amir said foreigners in Saudi Arabia can own properties only if the profession listed on their residence permit is foreign investor.
Priority for owning properties is given to Saudis, he added.
Some real estate experts said there is a long way to go before expatriates will be allowed to buy properties given the supply and demand in the market.
Al-Amir said supply was not meeting the growth in population in the Kingdom.
Once supply and demand are balanced locally, he added, the circumstances would be adequate for issuing laws regulating expatriates’ ownership of properties.