Thailand limits what foreigners buy, Dubai where, Malaysia the price

A Vietnamese individual can buy a home in Thailand, Malaysia or Dubai, within limits. Thailand opens condominium units, bought with money from abroad unless the buyer holds a residence permit or investment-promotion status; Malaysia requires state approval and, since 1 January 2026, 8% stamp duty on homes; Dubai allows freehold only in designated areas.

A Dubai home bought for AED 2 million or more allows a residence application. No text was found in the three under which ownership grants residence.

Thailand: a condominium unit, paid for from abroad

Thailand’s Condominium Act lets a foreigner own a condominium unit only within the categories of section 19. Two depend on status in Thailand: a residence permit under the immigration law, or admission under the investment-promotion law.

The category that requires neither is section 19(5): the buyer brings foreign currency into Thailand, or pays from a non-resident’s baht account or a foreign-currency deposit account. At the transfer, the buyer must show evidence of that money in an amount not less than the price of the unit.

Foreigners together may own no more than 49% of the floor area of all units in a condominium, measured when the application to register it was made.

In June 2024 the Cabinet asked the Interior Ministry to review raising that ceiling to as much as 75%. On 4 July 2024 the government told the House of Representatives that no action had been taken and the matter was still at the study stage.

Land is a different matter. Under section 86 of the Land Code, a foreigner may acquire land only under a treaty that grants property rights, on conditions set by ministerial regulation and with the Minister’s permission. No treaty giving Vietnamese citizens that right was identified.

Section 96 bis makes an exception for a foreigner who brings in an investment of at least THB 40 million, the exact amount being set by ministerial regulation: up to one rai (1,600 square metres) of land for a residence, again with the Minister’s permission.

The regulation must cover the type of business invested in, an investment maintained for at least three years, and a location in Bangkok, Pattaya, a municipality or a zoned residential area. If the land is not used as a residence within two years of registration, the Director-General may dispose of it.

Thailand: 2% to register, taxes on resale

Registering the transfer of a condominium unit costs 2% of the official appraised value, under a 2010 ministerial regulation. No text was found setting whether the buyer or the seller pays it.

On 30 June 2026 the Cabinet approved a cut to 0.01%, in force from publication in the Royal Gazette until 30 June 2027 and with the same essentials as the 2025 measure, according to a Public Relations Department report.

The Cabinet’s 2025 summary confined that measure to buyers who are natural persons of Thai nationality, wording the 2026 report repeats, and to houses, commercial buildings and condominium units priced up to THB 7 million. This indicates that a foreigner’s purchase stays at 2%.

Selling also attracts tax. An individual who sells within five years of acquiring the property pays specific business tax of 3% plus a local tax of 10% of that amount, 3.3% in all, on the registered price or the appraised value if higher.

Among the exceptions in the royal decree are inherited property and a principal residence on whose house register the seller has been entered for at least a year. Otherwise the seller pays stamp duty of 0.5%.

The seller also bears withholding income tax; for property not inherited or received as a gift, it is computed on the appraised value spread over the years held, up to ten.

Malaysia: state approval and price floors

In Malaysia, a non-citizen may acquire land only with the prior approval of the state authority, applied for in writing, under section 433B of the National Land Code; the approval may carry conditions and a levy. Penang and Johor publish their own floors and levies.

The layout of the table in Penang’s land office guideline, updated in August 2024, indicates a minimum price for a foreign buyer of RM1 million for an apartment or other strata unit on Penang Island and RM3 million for a landed home there; on the mainland, RM1 million for landed property and RM500,000 for strata units bought by foreign individuals.

Holders of the MM2H long-stay pass face a floor of RM500,000, for up to two homes. The state levy is 3% of the acquisition value, or 1.5% for island strata units between RM1 million and RM1.5 million.

Johor’s land office sets RM1 million as the minimum for foreign buyers of homes, whether bought from a developer or resold. For homes bought from developers, it sets foreign quotas of 20% to 30% for houses and bungalow lots and 50% for apartments and serviced apartments.

From 1 July 2025 its approval fee on residential purchases from developers rose to 3% of the value in the stamped sale agreement, with a minimum of RM30,000. The guidance for Kuala Lumpur or Selangor could not be opened.

Malaysia: 8% stamp duty and a gains tax on resale

The Finance Act 2025 set stamp duty at 8% of the price or the market value, whichever is greater, on a sale of residential property from 1 January 2026 to a person who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident. Residential property means a house, condominium, apartment, flat, serviced apartment or small office home office used solely as a dwelling.

This means the federal duty and a state’s approval levy under section 433B are separate charges, so a foreign buyer in Penang or Johor pays both.

On resale, a seller who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident pays real property gains tax of 30% of the gain on a disposal within five years and 10% from the sixth year, according to the Inland Revenue Board. The buyer must retain 7% of the price and remit it to the board within 60 days.

Dubai: designated areas and a 4% fee

Dubai’s Law No. 7 of 2006 reserves ownership of real property to citizens of the UAE and the other Gulf Cooperation Council states, companies they wholly own and public joint-stock companies. With the Ruler’s approval, other foreigners may hold freehold without time limit, or a usufruct or lease of up to 99 years, in areas the Ruler determines.

Regulation No. 3 of 2006 designates plots in 23 such areas, among them Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah. Whether the list has since been amended was not established, and no minimum price was found in either text.

The Dubai Land Department charges 2% of the sale value to the seller and 2% to the buyer to register a sale, plus a title-deed fee of AED 250, other fixed fees and a service-partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT where the price is AED 500,000 or more.

A foreigner who does not live in the UAE can register with a valid passport. No rule was found on how the price itself must be paid or, unlike in Thailand, where the money must come from.

The UAE levies no income tax on individuals. This means an individual’s gain on resale is not taxed as income, although sellers pay their 2% share of the registration fee.

Owning a home is not a residence permit

No text was found in any of the three places under which buying a home grants residence. In Dubai, the Land Department says the owner of property bought for AED 2 million or more may apply for a ten-year renewable residence permit and sponsor a spouse, children and parents.

The federal portal u.ae, updated on 28 July 2026, lists five years for real-estate investors, with the same AED 2 million minimum. The two official pages differ on the term, and the discrepancy was not resolved.

In Thailand and Malaysia the relation runs the other way. Thailand’s Condominium Act makes a residence permit one route into ownership, under section 19(1); it says nothing about the reverse, and Thai immigration law was not examined. The long-term resident visa is a programme with its own conditions and its own tax breaks.

In Malaysia, the MM2H long-stay programme pairs a bank deposit with a compulsory home purchase, and Penang gives pass holders a floor of RM500,000 against RM1 million for other foreigners buying strata units on the island. None of the land-office texts consulted attaches residence to a purchase.

What this article has not established

Several gaps remain in Thailand: who customarily pays the 2% transfer fee, the limits on leases to foreigners, the Bank of Thailand’s current threshold for filing a foreign-exchange transaction form (USD 50,000 in 2010), and any official step on the 75% proposal after July 2024.

The business-tax rate used here follows section 91/6 of the Revenue Code and the Revenue Department’s Thai guidance, which set 3%, although an English summary table on the department’s website, last updated in 2020, lists 0.1 against real estate.

The Royal Gazette notices for the 2026–27 fee cut were not read, because the Gazette’s site blocked automated access, so the Thai-nationality condition and the price ceiling rest on Cabinet summaries. No treaty giving Vietnamese citizens a land right in Thailand was identified.

In Malaysia, the floors and fees for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, the federal guideline on property acquisition and Bank Negara Malaysia’s rules on how a non-resident’s purchase money must arrive could not be opened. What Johor’s quotas are measured against was not established.

In Dubai, later changes to the freehold-area list, the fee for registering off-plan purchases, whether the 2% split can be reallocated by contract and whether frequent sales could be taxed as a business were not established.

The Vietnamese rules on sending money abroad to pay for a home were not examined.