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Loan calculator Oman › Rent or buy in Oman?

Estimate only — not financial advice. Only your lender's offer is binding.

Rent or buy in Oman?

Updated

Example: a OMR 120,000 home bought with 20% down and a housing loan of OMR 96,000 at 6% over 25 years (instalment OMR 618.529 a month; OMR 28,097.000 cash on the day, with the 3% registration fee, the mortgage registration and the request, contract and title-deed fees), against OMR 6,000 a year in rent, over 10 years. The tenant pays no lease registration fee — the landlord does. With round test numbers of 0%, 3% and 6% for all three guesses, the result is renting ahead by OMR 3,118, buying ahead by OMR 34,812 and buying ahead by OMR 84,937. Those are test numbers, not a forecast: the answer turns on your own guesses, so put in yours.

This page: rent or buy the home you live in? Your rent against buying, with every cost on the day and your own guesses for the future, three side by side. Non-Omanis follow separate rules on where they may buy — see who may buy. For the cash you need on the day alone, use costs of buying a home.
Buyer
Non-Omani buyers pay an extra OMR 25 application form. GCC nationals and other foreign nationals may buy only where the rules allow — see who may buy.
Prefilled at CBO's 6% ceiling for housing loans against salary. Use your offer's; assumed to stay the same.
CBO: at most 25 years.
CBO lets a loan run only until you are 70.
12 × the monthly rent you pay now, or what similar homes rent for. OMR 6,000 is only an example.

Your three guesses

Nobody knows how rents, prices and other investments will move, and we could read no official rule on rent increases. For context only: the official consumer price index for housing, water, electricity and fuel moved -0.6% in the year to June 2026, and the official residential real-estate price index 24.6% in the year to the second quarter of 2026 (NCSI) — one year each, not a forecast. Fill in one, two or three sets of your own guesses; the results appear side by side.

Guess 1
Guess 2
Guess 3

Fills 0%, 3% and 6% into guesses 1, 2 and 3. These are round test numbers, not a forecast. Replace them with your own.

Owner costs every year (your estimates)
No official number — your estimate; OMR 600 is only an example.
No official number — your estimate; OMR 150 is only an example.
We found no official broker rate. Enter what you are quoted; leave empty if you sell without a broker.
Costs that depend on your deal
Who pays the 3% registration fee?
The regulation does not say — as agreed in your contract. The same split is used when you sell.
We found no official broker rate. Enter what you are quoted; empty = no broker.
Your offer. CBO caps the processing fee on a housing loan at OMR 50.
Valuation, insurance at the start and the like — your estimate; no official figure.
We found no official broker rate. Enter what you are quoted; empty = no broker.

Fill in at least one guess (all three boxes) to see the result, or press "Try with simple round numbers".

Not a valid document. Estimate for information only — not financial advice, not an offer of credit and not a bank document. Errors are possible. Only your bank's or finance company's official offer letter, contract and statements are binding.

What we could read about renting

    How the comparison works

    If you buy, you pay the down payment and the buying costs on the day, then the loan instalments and the owner costs every year. If you rent, you keep that cash and pay rent instead; the lease registration fee is the landlord's, so the tenant pays only the rent (and a broker, if you enter one). Each year, whoever pays less puts the difference aside, and it grows at your "money earns elsewhere" guess. At the end, the buyer sells the home, pays their share of the 3% registration fee, the broker and what is still owed; the renter has their savings. The calculator compares the two.

    What decides the answer

    • How long you stay. The 3% registration fee and the other buying costs are paid once; the longer you stay, the more years they are spread over.
    • Rent against instalments and owner costs. The gap each year is money one side can put aside.
    • Home prices. They decide what the buyer has at the end.
    • What your money earns elsewhere. That is what the renter's cash on the day and yearly savings grow at.

    The last three are guesses. That is why the page shows up to three sets side by side instead of one answer.

    Renting in Oman: what we could read

    • Lease registration: a lease is registered with the municipality. Muscat Municipality charges 3% of the monthly rent times the months of the lease (plus a form fee) (Muscat Municipality; other governorates: check your municipality), and it is the landlord who pays it — so this page puts it on the landlord's side, not the tenant's.
    • Late renewal: if the registration is renewed more than a month late, the landlord pays a fine of 9% a year of the rent for the days late (Muscat Municipality).
    • Disputes: Royal Decree 12/2025 set up rental dispute committees, chaired by a judge, in each governorate, and made a lease an enforceable instrument.
    • Not read: the tenancy law's rules on rent increases, notice and eviction are not published on an official site we could read — check your lease and ask the municipality.

    Buying in Oman: the official rules

    • Registering the sale with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning: 3% of the property value. The regulation does not say who pays — choose it in the calculator. With a housing loan, registering the mortgage costs 0.5% of the mortgage. The fixed fees are OMR 5 for the request, OMR 2 for the contract and OMR 10 for the title deed; non-Omani buyers also pay a OMR 25 application form. Beneficiaries of the state housing-assistance programme are exempt once from the title-deed, sale and mortgage fees (not counted here). Ministerial Decision 36/2026 amended other items of the fee regulation (transfers into the owner's own company, housing-assistance exemptions); the 3% and 0.5% fees are unchanged.
    • VAT: the resale of a home, residential rent and bare land are exempt. The VAT law text we read does not say how the first sale of a new home is treated — ask the seller.
    • Broker: we found no official broker rate. The broker fields are your own figures (empty = no broker).
    • Housing loan (CBO): at most 90% of the property value, so at least 10% down (land you own and a government housing subsidy count as down payment); at most 25 years, and only until you are 70. The interest (or profit) rate on a housing loan against salary is at most 6% a year — CBO says that ceiling may change from time to time — charged on the reducing balance (no flat rates). A variable-rate change must be notified 2 months ahead. The processing fee is at most OMR 50. CBO's circular makes no distinction between Omanis and expatriates.

    Income tax

    Oman's personal income tax starts in 2028: 5% on the part of a resident's total yearly income above OMR 42,000. From then, interest (or financing cost) on a loan to build or buy your main home is deductible once in a lifetime, under rules not yet published. The calculator counts no income tax — check the Tax Authority's rules for your own case.

    For the cash you need on the day, see costs of buying a home; for the monthly payment and the debt-burden limit, the housing loan calculator.

    Who may buy property in Oman

    • Omani citizens buy and register with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning.
    • Citizens of the other GCC states may buy, but not agricultural land and not in the areas listed for strategic or security reasons — the Ministry's service page names them (see the rules box).
    • Foreign nationals may buy land only within Integrated Tourism Complexes (ITCs).
    • Non-Omani buyers pay an extra OMR 25 property-ownership application form when the sale is registered. Check with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning before you pay a deposit.

    Questions people ask

    Can my landlord raise the rent in Oman?

    In Oman, the tenancy law's rules on rent increases, notice and eviction are not published on an official site we could read, so this page states none — check your lease and ask the municipality. Disputes go to the rental dispute committees set up by Royal Decree 12/2025, chaired by a judge.

    Who pays the lease registration fee?

    The landlord. Muscat Municipality charges 3% of the rent for the whole term of the lease (other governorates: check your municipality), paid by the lessor; if the renewal is more than a month late, the landlord also pays a fine of 9% a year of the rent for the days late. So the calculator counts no lease fee on the tenant's side.

    What does it cost to buy a home in Oman?

    Registering the sale costs 3% of the property value (the regulation does not say who pays), registering a mortgage 0.5% of the mortgage, plus fixed fees of OMR 5 for the request, OMR 2 for the contract and OMR 10 for the title deed; non-Omani buyers add a OMR 25 form. The big number is the down payment.

    How much of a home can a housing loan pay for?

    At most 90% of the property value (CBO), over at most 25 years and only until you are 70; the rate on a housing loan against salary is at most 6% a year. CBO's circular makes no distinction between Omanis and expatriates.

    Is there VAT on rent or on buying a home?

    Residential rent and the resale of a home are exempt from VAT, in Oman. The VAT law text we read does not say how the first sale of a new home is treated.