Can foreigners buy property in Morocco?

Key facts

• Apart from agricultural land and a few regulated sectors, there are generally no limits on foreigners buying property in Morocco, directly or through a company (Chambers Real Estate 2025).
• A 1975 dahir reserves agricultural land outside urban perimeters for Moroccan individuals and companies; Law 62-19 of 2021 opened it to certain companies for agricultural projects (Chambers Real Estate 2025).
• Owning property gives no right to live in Morocco: Law 02-03 lists no property or investment ground for a residence card (Law 02-03, Arts. 5-17).
• Since 1 January 2026, banks may lend non-resident foreigners dirhams for up to 80% of a property's price, with the balance paid in foreign currency (Office des Changes, IGOC 2026, Art. 202).
• Since 1 June 2026, powers of attorney to buy, sell or mortgage property must be entered in a national electronic register at the courts of first instance (Hespress).
• Since 16 July 2026, promises of sale and special powers of attorney for property must be authentic acts, or they are void (Law 41-25, as reported by Bladi).

Can foreigners own property in Morocco?

Yes, outright. A foreign national can buy a villa, riad, apartment or plot and register it in their own name with full title. Chambers' 2025 real estate guide says there are generally no limits on foreign investors buying Moroccan property, apart from agricultural land and some regulated sectors. There is no quota and no foreign-buyer zone.

The title is the same as a Moroccan owner's. What differs is farmland, the funding rules that decide what you can later transfer abroad, and Moroccan mortgage terms.

Ownership does not bring residency: Law 02-03 lists no property ground for a residence card, so owners follow the same 90-day and visiteur rules as other foreigners (see residency through property).

Can foreigners buy agricultural land in Morocco?

Generally not, outside urban perimeters, and the rule dates from the 1970s. A dahir of 2 March 1973 transferred foreign-owned farmland to the State, and a dahir of 23 April 1975 limits the purchase of agricultural land outside urban perimeters to Moroccan individuals and companies (Bladi; Chambers, 2025).

Law 62-19 of 2021 loosened the rule rather than created it: according to Chambers, it lets certain companies, whatever their foreign ownership, buy such land for agricultural projects with regional approval. It is a route for farm investors, not house buyers.

For a non-agricultural project, a foreign buyer needs an attestation de vocation non agricole (VNA, often written AVNA). It is not a rezoning: it certifies that the land may be used for a documented non-agricultural investment. A joint ministerial circular of April 2022 refuses it in high-potential farming zones, irrigation perimeters and land-consolidation sectors, and makes it automatic for plots in authorised subdivisions and housing groups (Hespress).

Before committing to a plot on the edge of town, ask the urban agency for its note de renseignement on permitted uses.

Why the title matters more than your nationality

The real dividing line is titled versus untitled property. A Titre Foncier issued on registration is "définitif et inattaquable" under the 1913 land-registration dahir (Art. 62), and only registered property, or property being registered, can be mortgaged (Law 39-08, Art. 165).

That makes it very hard to challenge, not untouchable: a later entry obtained by fraud, such as a sale on a forged power of attorney, can be challenged within four years (Law 39-08, Art. 2).

Untitled melkia property, held on adoul deeds, is riskier: nothing at the registry records who owns it, and co-heirs can buy back a share sold to an outsider. No law we found bars foreigners from buying it, but notaires generally advise waiting until it is registered (see Titre Foncier vs Melkia). Every listing on Villas of Morocco is checked at the land registry for a Titre Foncier and confirmed by a notaire before publication.

How does buying property in Morocco work?

Every transfer of property must be made by authentic act, in practice before a notaire or adouls (Law 39-08, as amended in July 2026, per Bladi). The usual sequence for a titled resale:

• Title check: the notaire obtains a certificate from the local Conservation Foncière showing the owner, area and charges (MAD 100, ANCFCC).
• Preliminary contract: since 16 July 2026, the compromis must itself be an authentic act, or it is void (Law 41-25, according to Bladi and La Vie Éco). An agent quoted by Le Matin puts the usual deposit at 10%; off-plan reservations are capped at 5%.
• Escrow: notaires hold client funds in accounts at the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, a rule applied since July 2015 (Le360).
• Completion: the notaire pays registration duty within 30 days (CGI 2026) and files the deed at the land registry within three months (1913 dahir, Art. 65 bis). Ownership passes only when the sale is entered on the title (Arts. 66-67).

No law sets an overall timeline. Four to twelve weeks is a common estimate for a titled resale; a mortgage to release, the seller's capital-gains filing or unpaid local taxes (CGI Art. 138) can stretch it.

What does it cost, and can you get a mortgage?

About 7% of the price in taxes and fees: 4% registration duty on built property (5% on bare land), a 1.5% land-registry fee plus MAD 100, and a notaire's fee of about 1% plus 20% VAT, with no official published scale. A buyer-paid agency commission of 2.5-3% plus VAT brings it to about 10% (see costs and taxes).

For deeds from 1 July 2026, a sale above MAD 300,000 pays an extra 2% duty on any part of the price paid in cash, or on the whole price if the deed does not record how it was paid (CGI Art. 133-III).

Since 1 January 2026, the foreign-exchange instruction lets Moroccan banks lend non-resident foreigners dirhams for up to 80% of the price (IGOC 2026, Art. 202). The balance must come in foreign currency, the borrower signs a declaration on honour that they own no home in Morocco, and the loan goes into a special account that cannot be transferred abroad. Terms vary by bank (see mortgages for foreigners).

How to fund the purchase so you can take the money out later

Pay in foreign currency from abroad and keep the bank's settlement documents. Financing in foreign currency or convertible dirhams guarantees the right to transfer rental income, sale proceeds including the gain, and inheritance proceeds abroad (IGOC 2026, Arts. 171 and 173). Non-resident foreigners can transfer rental income whatever the funding (Art. 161).

A convertible dirham account is convenient, not compulsory: a transfer from abroad converted by the Moroccan bank also qualifies (Art. 11). There is no exchange declaration for the buyer to file; banks report to the Office des Changes themselves. At resale, your bank pays out against that settlement proof (Art. 12), the deeds and proof that tax is paid (Arts. 174 and 177).

If you borrow in dirhams, what you can transfer at resale is limited to your foreign-currency contribution, capital repaid in foreign currency or from a convertible account, and the gain. More in repatriating funds.

Can you buy property in Morocco from abroad?

Yes, through a power of attorney (procuration), but the rules tightened in 2017 and 2026. Since Law 69-16 of 2017, a private power of attorney with a legalised signature has not been enough to transfer property rights, according to the guide site lesmre.com. Since 16 July 2026, Law 41-25 requires special powers to be authentic acts, with no lawyer-drafted alternative (Bladi), and since 1 June 2026 they must be entered in a national register at the courts of first instance (Hespress).

In practice, sign before a notary where you live, then obtain an apostille and a sworn Arabic translation, or sign before a Moroccan notaire or adouls, and confirm the form with your notaire first.

Keep the power narrow: one property, one transaction, one person you trust. Forged powers are a known route to property theft, which the register aims to curb (Hespress).

This guide is general information, not legal advice: confirm your own case with an independent notaire.

Sources

• Chambers and Partners: Real Estate 2025: Morocco, Law and Practice (Gide Loyrette Nouel)
• FAOLEX (FAO): Recueil des textes relatifs au régime de l'immatriculation foncière (Dahir of 12 August 1913, as amended by Law 14-07)
• FAOLEX (FAO): Loi n° 39-08 relative au Code des droits réels
• Office des Changes: Instruction Générale des Opérations de Change 2026
• Hespress FR: Agriculture : circulaire ministérielle conjointe sur la délivrance de l'AVNA
• Bladi: Le Maroc protège le foncier contre les étrangers
• Bladi: MRE : depuis le 16 juillet, votre vente immobilière au Maroc peut être nulle
• Hespress FR: Immobilier : le registre national des procurations entre en vigueur
• Bulletin Officiel (copy hosted by Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs): Loi n° 02-03 relative à l'entrée et au séjour des étrangers au Royaume du Maroc
• Direction Générale des Impôts (copy hosted by Upsilon Consulting): Code Général des Impôts, édition 2026