Who Can Buy Property in Morocco? Rules for Foreign Buyers

Foreigners can buy freehold, with one big exception

Morocco permits foreign individuals and foreign companies to own property in their own name, according to the US State Department 2024 Investment Climate Statement. There is no requirement to take a Moroccan partner for a house or flat, and ownership is freehold rather than leasehold.

The exception is agricultural land. Foreigners cannot buy farmland as such: agricultural property can only be acquired for a non-agricultural project, after obtaining a certificate confirming the non-agricultural use.

In practice this matters most outside the cities. A country house with olive groves or a rural plot near Marrakech may sit on land classed as agricultural, so the certificate process needs to be built into your timeline and your lawyer should check the land classification early.

Titre foncier versus melkia: know what you are buying

Morocco runs two systems of ownership side by side. A titre foncier is a title registered with the national land registry, the ANCFCC, and gives the strongest protection. Coverage is far from universal: roughly 30 per cent of land is registered in the formal system, almost all of it in urban areas, according to the US State Department.

Melkia (also written moulkiya) is traditional ownership evidenced by deeds drawn up by adouls, Morocco's customary notaries. It is legal and widespread, and many older medina houses and riads are held this way, but it does not provide the same level of certainty as a registered title, and several heirs may hold shares in a single property.

Under Moroccan rules, an occupant of melkia land can also establish prescriptive rights after 10 years of occupation, or 40 years where family members are involved, which is one reason lawyers advise extra care with unregistered property.

Who does what in a Moroccan purchase

Sales of titled property normally complete before a notaire, a state-regulated civil-law notary who checks the title, holds the funds and registers the transfer. Traditional melkia transactions go through adouls instead, and many buyers of medina property have the melkia converted into a registered titre foncier as part of the purchase.

Be clear about what the notaire does not do. As a July 2026 analysis in Morocco World News put it, notaries formalise the sale and verify that the transfer is legal; they do not value the property or tell you whether you are overpaying.

• Use a notaire, and add an independent lawyer for any unregistered property
• Ask for an up-to-date ownership certificate from the ANCFCC land registry before committing
• Never pay a deposit in cash or without a written, notarised agreement

Pay from abroad in foreign currency: it matters later

Morocco's exchange-control body, the Office des Changes, treats the purchase of real estate by a foreign investor as a foreign investment, one of the categories recognised in its rules. When the investment is financed in foreign currency transferred from abroad, the convertibility regime guarantees the freedom to transfer the income the property generates and the proceeds when you eventually sell.

That guarantee is why advisers insist on paying through the Moroccan banking system rather than in cash: your bank transfer records are the evidence that the money came in from outside Morocco.

A market drawing more foreign buyers

Interest is rising. Prime residential values in Marrakech are up around 16 per cent since 2023, according to Knight Frank figures cited by Morocco World News in July 2026, and competition for good riads and villas increasingly comes from international buyers.

Morocco does not yet publish a comprehensive public database of final sale prices, so asking prices can be elastic. Negotiate on evidence rather than the first number quoted; Habio's Morocco listings and buyer guides are a practical place to start comparing what is actually on the market.