Muscat – In June, buyers started calling me with the same query. They had heard Oman was now open to foreign ownership everywhere. Some had already picked an area. A few had paid a deposit.

They were wrong. The confusion was reasonable.

Two changes landed close together. On May 18, the new Real Estate Registry Law came into force under Royal Decree 56/2026, replacing a law from 1998. On June 22, a Royal Oman Police decision took effect letting foreign property owners get a visa and residency without a local sponsor.

Read together, the coverage sounded like one thing. Oman had opened up.

In late June, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning said otherwise. Foreign ownership has not been opened to all areas of the country. Non-Omanis can still own only in places already named under existing law: integrated tourism complexes, future cities such as Sultan Haitham City, Al Thuraya City and Al Jabal Al Aali, and integrated residential neighbourhoods such as Surouh. GCC citizens remain under separate agreements.

The residency change was about residency. It did not change who can own, or where.

So what did the registry law change?

It is a serious piece of work. But it is about proof of ownership, not about who is allowed to own. It defines the title deed for the first time. It gives an electronic deed the same legal force as a paper one. A deed can be issued in English on request. And it keeps the rule that matters most: a transaction only counts once it is registered. If it is not registered, you hold a promise from the seller, not ownership that anyone else has to respect.

That is the point I would put in front of every buyer. The paperwork is the asset.

There is also a piece missing. The law says the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning will issue executive regulations setting out how it works in practice. Those have not been published yet. Until they are, existing rules continue to apply. Anyone telling you today exactly how the new system will work is guessing.

That is not a reason to stay away. It is a reason to slow down at three points.

Check that the area is one where non-Omanis may own. Not the brochure. The designated list.

Check what you are actually buying. Freehold and usufruct are both sold to foreigners and they are not the same thing. Usufruct is a long lease, commonly 50 to 99 years. It ends.

Check when registration will happen. If you are buying off-plan, ask what protects your payments before handover.

None of this is exotic. It is the homework a careful buyer does anywhere. But the June headlines pushed people to skip it, and that is where money gets lost.

Oman did open a door in June. It was the residency door, and it opened wider than most people expected. The ownership door moved less than the headlines suggested. The detail that will matter most has not been published yet.

Worth waiting to read it.

(Waleed Al Abri is a real estate advisor in Muscat who works with foreign and GCC buyers. He publishes Oman property data and buyer guides at waleedproperty.com)

(The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Muscat Daily or Apex Media)