What is the Real Estate Registry and what changes for owners?

The Real Estate Registration Law, issued by Royal Decree M/91 dated 19/9/1443H, makes the property itself, not the owner’s name, the basis for recording rights. The National Company for Real Estate Registration Services (the “Real Estate Registry”) builds and runs the register on a digital platform. REGA announces real estate areas in stages, each with a deadline for first-registration applications.

The title registration deed shows the property’s precise location, owner, description, and the rights, obligations and transactions attached to it. The registry has absolute evidential force: its contents bind the courts and all authorities without further evidence and can be challenged only for a clerical error or forgery. A first registration, however, can be contested before the competent court by any interested party until it gains that force, within up to one year after the lists of registered properties are published; after that an affected party can only claim compensation (Article 11 as amended by Royal Decree M/123 dated 10/6/1447H). Properties outside announced areas stay under the previous documentation systems.

Restriction means transactions such as ownership transfers, subdivision and merging, mortgages and deed updates are processed through the Real Estate Registry. The registry’s official spokesperson told Okaz (28 September 2026) that any transaction in these areas first requires the property’s registration to be completed.

Based on announcements by REGA and the Ministry of Justice up to 5 October 2026, the restriction applies in the areas below; other cities will be announced in turn once registration there is complete:

By Decision 176 dated 14/2/1448H (28 July 2026), the Council of Ministers approved moving the digital and operational services directly tied to property documentation, including the Real Estate Exchange platform and its app, to REGA within six months of the decision, and moving the buildings of six notary offices to REGA under a plan that keeps services running. REGA’s board chairman said implementation follows a transition plan that ensures business continuity.