GRIP LibraryReal estate research

Foreign ownership is a local question

There is no international standard for who may hold land. The jurisdiction in front of the title is the one that applies.

GRIP EditorialBrief9 June 20262 min read

Some countries let non-citizens buy apartments but not land. Some allow land with a size threshold. Some channel foreigners into named freehold zones. Some are liberal on title and strict on tax. Copying a structure that worked in the last country is a good way to buy a problem.

The practical habit is boring and effective: a local lawyer who does not also sell the building; a translation of the actual title; a written note on what happens at death, divorce, or a change in the foreign-ownership rule.

GRIP will keep pointing at the question. Laws move. The working habit is current local counsel and a written note on the title actually held.

Markets in this briefing

Across GRIP

Elsewhere in the research

The same place, read from another desk.

Related briefings

Concrete modernist building against a clear sky

Real estate research

Tenure, use and the quiet details that matter

Freehold, leasehold, strata, quota, company. The words are dull. They are also the asset.

Brief3 September 20262 min read

Coastal city of tiled roofs and a stone tower by the water

Markets and cities

A more mobile world still has local rules

Passports got more useful. Title registers did not become universal. Plan for both facts at once.

Brief28 July 20262 min read

Markets and cities

Moving first, buying second

Relocation is a life decision with a property attachment. Reverse that order and the house starts making family decisions.

Brief7 August 20262 min read

Continue with GRIP

Look at a market next.

The briefings are a method. The directory is where they meet a city.

Explore markets Contact GRIP