Rattled Emirati investors push up Oman property market

• Sales up by about a third
• A third of buyers from the UAE
• Oman considered a safe investment

The value of property sales in Oman since the Iran war began at the end of February rose by about a third to $550 million, mainly due to increased interest from UAE investors, a ministry has said.

And about a third of the total transactions in March were from buyers from the UAE, according to Oman’s ministry of housing and urban development (MHUD). 

In 2025, UAE buyers in Oman’s properties accounted for an average of 12 percent of sales per month, MHUD statistics show. 

Real estate brokers say UAE investors mainly come from Dubai and have been buying one to three-bedroom apartments.

The capital Muscat is their first target, while Sohar is the second because of its proximity to the UAE, said Mustafa Hussein, director of the Property Shop.

Hussein said that “offers are still coming in” from different investors across the border, both Emiratis and expatriates based in the UAE.

Buyers say they find Oman a safe investment destination in the ongoing war, with some selling off UAE property for cheaper houses and apartments in the sultanate. 

“I sold off my apartment in Dubai before the war gets worse because the property market is going down there. Another advantage is that properties in Oman are at least 25 percent cheaper than in the UAE,” Jason Bradford, a retired UK civil servant, told AGBI.

Sales activity in the UAE has dropped almost 30 percent since the war began. 

The country recorded AED29 billion in transactions in the first three weeks of March, most likely in deals agreed before tensions escalated. But this is down from AED41 billion for the same period in February, according to the data provider Property Monitor.

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“When this situation ends, it will probably go to the worst and bottom out, before it starts getting better,” said Imran Khan, CEO of off-plan marketing firm Pixl Group and market intelligence company Invespy.

​​Since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at Gulf states. The UAE has borne the brunt.

Oman has had fewer strikes in comparison with other GCC states.