Can foreigners buy an apartment in Kazakhstan? Prices 2026

About $1,700 per square metre in Almaty and Astana, from $125 in paperwork, but a home in your own name requires a residence permit. Prices by city, purchase steps, owner taxes and pitfalls.

A foreigner can register an apartment in Kazakhstan in their own name only with a residence permit. The law on the legal status of foreign citizens lets permanent residents own housing and expressly excludes those staying temporarily: on a visa, visa-free or with a temporary residence permit. The rule is the same for every nationality, and citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union countries get no exception. Without a residence permit you can buy non-residential premises in your own name: an office, a shop, a warehouse, a parking space. For a home the order is residence permit first, apartment second, and we handle both steps. In 2026 a square metre in new buildings in Almaty and Astana costs about $1,700 on average, and the paperwork adds from $125 on top.

The legal details, from cadastre checks to land restrictions, are on the property in Kazakhstan page. Here is the short answer: who can buy, what it costs, how to buy and where the catch is.

Who can register a home in Kazakhstan in their own name

What decides it is your status in the country, not your passport. With a residence permit a foreigner owns housing on the same terms as citizens, and the law limits neither the number of apartments nor their size.

Until you hold a residence permit there are three lawful routes. The first is to rent: renting is not restricted for foreigners, and a housing agreement is needed for the permanent residence application anyway. The second is to buy non-residential premises in your own name: an office, a shop, a warehouse, a parking space or serviced apartments with non-residential status. The third is to register the apartment to a company: the law on housing relations lets a legal entity, including one with a foreign shareholder, own housing. The owner is then the company, not you, so our lawyers review such a structure before any deposit is paid.

How much an apartment in Kazakhstan costs in 2026

New housing in Kazakhstan rose 13% over the year, and almost 17% in Almaty. Sales are falling at the same time: in the first seven months of 2026 there were 13% fewer deals than a year earlier. Buyers are entering a market where prices rise but there are no queues. Figures from the Bureau of National Statistics:

Resale housing costs about the same on average nationwide, about $1,400 per square metre. The gap between cities matters more than new versus resale: an apartment in Shymkent costs almost a third less than in the capital.

A 60 m² apartment rents for about $710 a month on the national average. That is roughly 10% a year of the average price, before tax, repairs and empty months between tenants.

How a foreigner buys an apartment in Kazakhstan

The purchase has two stages: the residence permit first, then the deal. The deal itself takes from a few days to a couple of weeks if the tax number and account are ready in advance.

• Residence permit. The permanent residence application is filed with the police migration service or a public service centre. The decision takes 45 calendar days, the fee is about $40, and about $13,000 must be shown in an account with a Kazakh bank. Once permission is granted, a residence permit card is issued for 10 years. Citizens of visa-free countries need no separate visa to apply. Conditions and documents are on the Kazakhstan residence permit page.
• Tax number. The individual identification number is issued at a public service centre on your passport. Since 2026 embassies no longer issue it; remotely, only through the e-residency programme.
• Bank account. Payment goes through a bank. How to open one is in our article on a bank account in Kazakhstan.
• Checking the apartment. The seller's title, mortgages and seizures are checked in the legal cadastre before signing.
• Contract at a notary. The notary certifies the contract and sends the documents for registration.
• Registration of title. Usually 3 working days, or about 2 hours on the fast track. The buyer becomes the owner only after it.

Buying an apartment does not give a residence permit; it works the other way round: status first, home second. The investor visa for putting at least $300,000 into the capital of Kazakh companies or into securities also gives only the right to apply for permanent residence, and buying property does not count towards it. To keep the permission from being cancelled, you need to live in Kazakhstan for at least 183 days in any 12 months.

How much the paperwork costs

The notary and registration are the cheapest part of the purchase. What costs money is a mistake in checking the apartment or in the payment.

• Notarising a contract between people who are not relatives: about $120.
• Registering the title: about $5.
• Tax number: free.

In total, from $125 on top of the price. This excludes the estate agent's fee, bank transfer fees, a notarised passport translation and Murblz support. A manager will calculate the support fee in chat.

What taxes an apartment owner pays

Property tax in Kazakhstan is modest: the scale starts at 0.05% of the value and rises for expensive apartments. The tax office calculates it, the notice arrives in your online account, and it is due by 1 October.

When an apartment bought on or after 1 January 2026 is sold, no tax is due if it was owned for 2 years or more. Sell earlier and the gain is taxed at 10% or 15%. More on the taxes in Kazakhstan page.

Pitfalls

• Money without a bank trail. Paying in cash causes problems when selling and moving money out of the country.
• An unchecked mortgage or seizure. Encumbrances are visible in the legal cadastre, but they must be checked before signing, not after.
• Buying before the residence permit. Title to an apartment will not be registered in the name of a foreigner without a residence permit, and the deposit and the time are lost. An apartment registered to an acquaintance belongs by law to that person, not to you.
• Land. Agricultural plots are closed to foreigners, and a plot for a private house, a dacha or a garden can be owned only by citizens of Kazakhstan. We check a house with land separately before any deposit.
• Inheritance. A home inherited by a foreigner without a residence permit must be sold or given away within a year; otherwise it is sold by court order and the value is paid out.
• Time spent in the country. Permanent residence is cancelled if you live in Kazakhstan for fewer than 183 days in 12 months, so we plan the purchase together with the move.

If the purchase is part of a move, start with our guide to moving to Kazakhstan in 2026.

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