Saudi Arabia moves property deals onto a digital registry, region by region
Since 22 September 2026, property deals in Hail and nine Eastern Province areas must go through the national Real Estate Registry, which aims to cover 80% of Saudi properties by 2028. What it changes, and how Morocco compares.
Since 22 September 2026, anyone selling, mortgaging, subdividing or merging a property in the Hail region, or in nine cities and governorates of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, including Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Qatif and Jubail, must do it through the national Real Estate Registry. The newspaper Al Eqtisadiah reported the change on 17 September, along with the registry’s target: cover 80% of the Kingdom’s properties by 2028.
It is a less flashy story than tokens or AI, but it is the foundation everything else depends on. Here is how the Saudi registry works, how it connects to the opening of the market to foreign buyers, and how Morocco compares.
How the registry works
The Saudi model rests on “in-kind” registration: each property, not only each owner, gets its own record. According to Al Eqtisadiah, every registered unit receives a property number and a title deed that includes its precise geographic location, the owner’s details, a description, its status, the rights and obligations attached to it, and every later transaction.
Owners register online, through the rer.sa platform or app. The rollout goes neighbourhood by neighbourhood: in June 2026, first registration opened for 140,580 plots in six regions, including Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, the Eastern Province, Qassim and Tabuk, with deadlines and penalties for late registration. In Madinah, owners in the listed neighbourhoods had until 10 September 2026.
The registry is built and run by the National Company for In-Kind Real Estate Registration Services, with REGA as the competent authority. Owners can call a dedicated customer service line with questions, and are told to register within the stated period to avoid fines under the in-kind registration system.
Once an area is ready, transactions there move to the registry for good. This is a joint effort of the Real Estate General Authority (REGA) and the Ministry of Justice. The registry’s spokesperson, Yazid Al-Yahya, described a system built on in-kind registration, a unified reference and a digital registry.
The link with foreign ownership
The registry matters even more because Saudi Arabia has opened property ownership to non-Saudis. The new law took effect in January 2026. On 23 June 2026, REGA opened applications on its Saudi Properties portal, which it calls the official channel. The process is fully digital, with automated eligibility checks; residents apply with their residency number.
According to the law firm Greenberg Traurig, the implementing regulations approved on 23 June require REGA to run a single electronic platform for applications, payments and title deeds, linked to the central bank’s payment systems. A disposal fee of 2% applies, and ownership in Makkah and Madinah is restricted to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals, according to REGA’s announcement.
The logic is simple: a foreign buyer will only trust a market where ownership can be checked quickly and reliably. A digital, map-based registry is part of that promise.
Limits and open questions
The 80% target is for 2028, and the rollout is gradual. Published figures cover plots opened for registration, not plots actually registered. We have not found official data yet on how many foreign buyers have applied through Saudi Properties, so we will not guess.
A registry is also only as good as the data entered. In-kind registration means surveying, resolving disputes and handling inheritance cases, which takes time in any country.
What it means for agencies
For agents, clean registries change the job. When ownership, location and charges can be checked online, less time goes into verifying documents and more into advising clients. Agencies that already keep structured records, for every property and every client, will adapt fastest.
That is the habit Quick Agent builds on the client side: each request logged with budget, city and timing, and a clear follow-up plan every morning. kawnium has no link with REGA or the Saudi Real Estate Registry.
Sources
- Al Eqtisadiah – The Real Estate Registry aims to digitise 80% of Saudi properties by 2028 (17 September 2026, in Arabic)
- Al Eqtisadiah – Registration starts for more than 140,000 plots in 6 Saudi regions (7 June 2026, in Arabic)
- PR Newswire (via Placera) – Saudi Properties portal to accept applications for foreign real estate ownership (23 June 2026)
- Greenberg Traurig – Saudi Arabia publishes implementing regulations to the foreign ownership of real estate law (6 July 2026)
- Finances News Hebdo – ANCFCC: record revenue and 436,000 new land titles in 2025 (1 July 2026, in French)
- Finances News Hebdo – Immatriculation foncière : le processus confronté à de nombreuses contraintes dans le monde rural (22 April 2023, in French)
Independent article by kawnium Lab, written from the public sources listed above and checked on the date shown. kawnium makes Quick Agent, which is mentioned here. This article contains no affiliate links. Read our affiliate disclosure and editorial policy.
