Hay Al Wafa, Sultan Haitham City: Oman residency for your family from 30% paid

Location

Sultan Haitham City, Al Seeb, Muscat

Developer

Al Abrar Real Estate

Homes

Studios to 3-bed apartments, townhouses, villas

Scale

About 1,800 homes; 375 in phase one

Handover

From December 2026, phase one

Pricing

From OMR 55,000 (about USD 143,000)

Ownership

Freehold, all nationalities

Residency

Eligible to apply at 30% paid

Family

Included above OMR 50,000

Hay Al Wafa is the opening neighbourhood of Sultan Haitham City, the planned city being built on the western side of Muscat. It is the project most international buyers ask us about first, for one reason: it combines the lowest entry price on freehold title in the capital with the only residency rule in Oman that starts during construction, and it is the first neighbourhood in the city scheduled to hand over.

This page sets out what is being built, what it costs to enter, exactly how the residency pathway works and where it stops, how Hay Al Wafa compares with the other Sultan Haitham City neighbourhoods and with the integrated tourism complexes on the coast, and what we check before you reserve. Prices are not fixed here because they move between releases; the current list is sent on request within one working day.

Across the Gulf, residency through property means a finished home, a large cheque and usually a sponsor. Sultan Haitham City runs on a different rule. Under a ministerial decision of September 2025 covering the city’s under-construction projects, a foreign buyer becomes eligible to apply for Omani residency once 30% of the purchase price has been paid. Where the home is priced above OMR 50,000, that residency extends to a spouse and first-degree relatives. It does not wait for handover.

Hay Al Wafa is the first Sultan Haitham City neighbourhood scheduled to hand over, so it is the one place where this pathway is live now, with keys months rather than years away. On a home at the OMR 55,000 entry price, 30% is OMR 16,500 paid. That is the effective entry ticket to a renewable, sponsor-free family residency in a GCC state, and it is a claim we can put in writing.

Sources: Ministerial decision on residency in Sultan Haitham City (September 2025); Royal Oman Police Decision No. 87/2026 amending the Executive Regulations of the Foreigners’ Residence Law, Official Gazette, effective 22 June 2026; Investor Residency Programme relaunched 31 August 2025 via Invest Oman. Thresholds as published; confirmed in writing before you commit.

Phase one mixes low-rise apartment buildings with townhouse rows and a smaller number of detached villas, arranged around pocket parks and the neighbourhood’s green spine rather than a single landmark. Homes are handed over finished and unfurnished, with allocated parking; furnishing packages for owners who intend to let are arranged on request. The sizes below are indicative, from the published phase-one plans, and the right-hand column is the one that matters for families.

Browse apartments for sale in Oman and villas and townhouses for how these compare with the coastal communities, or ask us for the floor plans of the units currently released.

Hay Al Wafa is sold off-plan on staged payments. Plans in the current release open with a booking payment of around 20%, followed by instalments linked to construction and, on some unit types, a portion payable after handover. Because the residency clock starts at 30% paid, the second instalment is usually the one that matters, and the date it falls due is the date we put at the top of every shortlist.

Payments go into the project’s escrow account, not to the developer directly, and the sale agreement sets out the construction milestones each instalment follows. We check both before you reserve. The worked figures above are illustrative: the exact plan for each unit comes with the price list, and some releases carry different booking percentages. See what to check before buying off-plan in Oman.

Sultan Haitham City sits in the wilayat of Al Seeb on the western side of Muscat, inland from the coast and alongside the main expressway corridor that links the airport, the university district and the capital’s newer suburbs. Muscat International Airport and the Al Mouj waterfront are each within roughly half an hour by road, Sultan Qaboos University and its hospital are close, and the Barka coast lies to the west. For a family arriving from Dubai, Doha, Riyadh or Karachi, the practical point is that the home is minutes from the airport and not a resort drive away.

Within the city, Hay Al Wafa sits in the first development zone near the Panorama Mall, where the project was launched, and fronts the central park and wadi corridor that runs through the masterplan. Neighbourhood services, schools and mosques are being delivered with the housing rather than after it. Compare the setting with the coastal communities in our Muscat guide and where to buy in Oman.

Sultan Haitham City is the largest urban project in Oman’s history: a 14.8-square-kilometre planned city developed under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and master-planned by SOM, designed for 100,000 residents in around 20,000 homes across 19 neighbourhoods. It is being delivered in four phases from 2024 to 2045, with phase one running to 2030. The plan allows for dozens of schools, health centres of different grades, mosques, a central park along the wadi, retail and civic districts, and a transport network intended to make most daily trips walkable.

Two things make it different from a conventional new-town launch. First, it is government-led: land, infrastructure and the regulatory framework come from the state, with private developers building individual neighbourhoods under licence. Second, demand is being seeded deliberately, including through the relocation of public-sector workers and the priority given to Omani families, which gives the rental and resale market a base that does not depend on tourism. Our Sultan Haitham City guide covers the masterplan in full.

Several developers are building inside the city under the same freehold and residency framework, so the choice between them comes down to handover date, entry price, position relative to the park, and the developer behind each. Entry prices below are as published by developers and brokers in mid-2026 and move with each release; treat them as a map, not a quote.

Hay Al Wafa leads on time to keys. Wadi Zaha and Jood bring larger Egyptian developers and park-front plots at later dates; Hay Al Ahlam is for buyers who want a villa from the outset. If your priority is the residency clock, the earliest handover with a price above OMR 50,000 wins, and that is Hay Al Wafa today. Ask us for a side-by-side on the specific units you are weighing.

Oman now has two property-linked residency routes, and buyers often conflate them. The Owner Visa is the one Hay Al Wafa unlocks: a renewable residence permit for the owner of a residential unit, issued without a sponsor under ROP Decision 87/2026, with no stated minimum property value nationally and, in Sultan Haitham City, available once 30% has been paid. Family inclusion in the city follows the OMR 50,000 line. The permit continues while you own the home and ends when it is sold.

The Investor Residency programme, relaunched on 31 August 2025 through Invest Oman, is the long-term tier: a five-year renewable permit for qualifying property or investment of OMR 250,000 or more, and a ten-year permit from OMR 500,000, each extending to spouse, children and dependent parents. At Hay Al Wafa only the larger villas approach the lower tier. Most buyers here are on the Owner Visa route by design, and move up to the Investor tier later by adding a second property. Read more on residency by property, the Investor Residency Programme and family and dependants.

Buyers of every nationality are welcome at Hay Al Wafa; these are simply the two groups for whom the Sultan Haitham City rule changes the arithmetic most, and the ones our advisers work with daily. If you are weighing Oman against Dubai or Riyadh, the comparison is not price alone: it is a sponsor-free family residency available at a fraction of the regional entry level, before handover, in a country with no personal income tax today, direct flights to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and a cost of living well below the UAE.

1. Choose a home above OMR 50,000 if your family needs residencyAt OMR 50,000 or below the permit covers the buyer only. Two-bedroom apartments, townhouses and villas at Hay Al Wafa sit above the line; we confirm the figure on the price list before you reserve.
2. Pay through the developer’s plan until 30% is reachedPlans typically open at 20% on booking, so the threshold is usually one instalment away. We give you the exact date 30% is reached on each unit you shortlist.
3. Obtain the payment certificate and apply for the Owner Visa, sponsor-freeOn a certificate from the competent authority you apply for the Owner Visa and residence permit under ROP Decision 87/2026, then add your spouse and children. Some age-related requirements for dependants are relaxed for owners’ families.
4. Take handover from December 2026Phase one hands over on the developer’s current programme; title is registered in your name on completion and the permit continues to renew while you own.
5. Hold, live in or let the homeThe permit lapses if the property is sold. Owners who let the home while abroad can use our property management service.

Most Hay Al Wafa buyers reserve without flying in. The sequence is short: we send the price list and shortlist, walk you through the plans and the site on a live video call, and you reserve with a passport copy, a reservation form and the booking payment into escrow. The sale and purchase agreement follows within the developer’s set period and can be signed remotely. For registration, handover inspection and collection of the title deed we act under a limited power of attorney, which can be executed at an Omani embassy or consulate or on a short visit.

Documents you will need across the purchase and the residency application: a valid passport, the signed agreement and payment certificates, and for family inclusion attested marriage and birth certificates. We provide a checklist with timings so nothing is attested twice. The full process is set out in buying from abroad and the five steps from search to handover; the legal side is covered in legal and transaction support and title deed and registration.

Oman levies no personal income tax today; a 5% tax on personal income above OMR 42,000 a year is scheduled to begin in January 2028, which leaves most owners and modest rental incomes untouched, though it may touch larger rental incomes and disposals and we flag it in your numbers. There is no inheritance tax, no annual property tax and no capital gains tax on personal property under current law.

One-off costs at purchase are the registration fee on transfer, a percentage of the price confirmed on the fee sheet, plus modest administrative charges. Running costs are the annual service charge, fixed by unit type at Hay Al Wafa and low by Gulf standards, together with utilities. Visa and permit fees are published by the Royal Oman Police and are small relative to the purchase. Our fees and ongoing costs guide and tax and compliance guidance set out each line.

Hay Al Wafa’s tenant pool is unusual for a new development because it is being created alongside the housing: public-sector staff relocating into the city, families moving from older parts of Muscat for newer schools and services, and professionals working at the airport, the university district and the industrial zones to the west. Early phases in planned cities tend to let first and let fastest, because there is little competing stock when the first residents arrive.

We do not publish yield figures for an unbuilt neighbourhood. What we provide instead is current asking rents for comparable new apartments and townhouses in Al Seeb and Al Khoudh, so you can form your own view against the price you are offered. On exit, three routes exist: assignment of the contract before handover under the developer’s terms, resale after title is registered into a market that forms as the city fills, or holding and letting through a managing agent. Remember that a residence permit linked to the unit ends on sale, so time any disposal around the family’s status. See rental and leasing and selling your property.

Hay Al Wafa is developed by Al Abrar Real Estate, an Omani developer building the neighbourhood under licence from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning within the Sultan Haitham City framework. The project was announced at OMR 280 million and its first phase was launched on 3 March 2024 at the Panorama Mall inside the city, with 375 homes targeted for completion in 2026 alongside the roads, utilities and lighting that serve them.

Because the city is government-led, the land and the master infrastructure do not depend on the developer’s balance sheet, which removes the largest single risk in off-plan buying. What remains is execution on the buildings themselves, and that is what our due diligence covers: the escrow account, the construction programme and the contractual remedies if a date slips. See our investor checklist for how we assess any developer in Oman.

• Freehold designation confirmed for the specific plot and unit in the sale agreement, not just the project marketing
• Unit price checked against the OMR 50,000 family line if spouse or children need residency
• The date 30% is reached written into your plan, with the payment certificate process explained
• Escrow account details verified and every payment made into it
• Contractual completion date, grace period and delay remedies read and understood
• Service charge schedule by unit type and what it covers
• Residency wording in all documents described as eligibility to apply, never a guarantee
• Power of attorney scope limited to registration and handover, with a named end date

1. May 2023Sultan Haitham City inaugurated as Oman’s first planned smart city, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning.
2. 3 March 2024Hay Al Wafa phase one launched by Al Abrar Real Estate at the Panorama Mall; 375 homes released.
3. 31 August 2025Investor Residency Programme relaunched through Invest Oman: five years from OMR 250,000, ten years from OMR 500,000.
4. September 2025Ministerial decision: buyers in Sultan Haitham City’s under-construction projects eligible for residency at 30% paid; family included above OMR 50,000.
5. 18 May 2026Real Estate Registry Law (Royal Decree 56/2026) in force, modernising how title is registered and proved.
6. 22 June 2026ROP Decision 87/2026 in effect: sponsor-free Owner Visa, extended to units whose registration is not yet complete.
7. December 2026First Hay Al Wafa handovers scheduled, phase one.
8. January 2028Personal income tax of 5% on income above OMR 42,000 scheduled to begin.
9. 2030Sultan Haitham City phase one scheduled for completion.

• The current Hay Al Wafa price list and availability by unit type
• The payment plan for each unit and the date 30% is reached
• A written note on residency eligibility for you and your family at that price
• The handover schedule and contractual completion date for the phase
• Comparable asking rents in Al Seeb and Al Khoudh for the unit types you shortlist
• A one-page summary of the ownership and visa rules in force, with sources

Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC)

A designated development where foreigners may own freehold, such as Al Mouj or Jebel Sifah. Sultan Haitham City uses a parallel designated-zone framework with its own residency rule.

Owner Visa

The sponsor-free residence permit for a foreign owner of a residential unit, under ROP Decision 87/2026. Renewable, tied to ownership, family can be added.

Investor Residency (Golden Visa)

Oman’s long-term programme: five-year permit from OMR 250,000, ten-year from OMR 500,000 of qualifying property or investment.

The 30% rule

The September 2025 decision making Sultan Haitham City buyers eligible to apply for residency once 30% of the price is paid, during construction.

OMR 50,000 line

The price above which the Sultan Haitham City residency covers spouse and first-degree relatives rather than the buyer alone.

Escrow account

The project bank account into which buyer instalments are paid and from which the developer draws against construction milestones.

Title deed (mulkiya)

The registered proof of ownership issued on completion, which passes to heirs. Under the 2026 Registry Law, registration is digital.

First-degree relatives

Spouse, children and parents, the family members who can be included under the owner-linked residency.