Bahrain » The Purchase Process

Essentially it has been possible for foreign investors to purchase real estate in Bahrain since 2001 when a royal declaration was issued to that effect. 

The declaration was fully endorsed and sanctioned in 2003 and it states that foreign buyers are permitted to buy certain types of property in certain areas of Bahrain.

Local interpretation of the rules relating to foreign freehold ownership of property in Bahrain nowadays see overseas investors purchasing any type of residential property on any reclaimed land development in the Kingdom.

In terms of the property buying process in Bahrain it proceeds in a similar way to the majority of buying processes worldwide. Investors are advised to seek independent legal assistance throughout the entire purchase process of course and the legal property ownership rights in Bahrain are sophisticated and well developed, meaning the purchaser is protected once permission to purchase has been granted and deeds of ownership transferred into the investor’s name.

Those purchasing pre-construction are advised that a holding deposit will be required upon contract closure and that stage payments will be due throughout the building process at fixed construction junctures with a final amount retained by the purchaser until property handover has been completed.

The amount of investment property available for sale in Bahrain to overseas investors is physically restricted by the small land mass of the kingdom and by the fact that freehold ownership if only allowed in certain areas of the country; therefore it is this restriction of supply that will ultimately push up prices because the demand for real estate for sale to international investors and expatriates living in Bahrain is not abating.