Mauritius opens property ownership for foreigners

Mauritius has officially opened up property ownership for foreigners outside of designated property schemes. 

Foreign ownership of real estate was introduced in 2023 through the launch of allocated projects as approved by the government. Evolved and expanded over the years, total sales for these projects have generated approximately USD 2.9 billion (31 December 202).  While still protecting Mauritian citizens from artificially inflated prices by concurrently running a parallel market for foreigners.

With the recent amendment announced during the Annual Mauritius Budget in June 2023, Foreigners who currently hold a residence permit in Mauritius will be permitted to purchase any property in the country - whether in designated schemes or not - provided that the purchase price is above USD 500,000 and not located on leasehold land (i.e government land). And comes with additional duty of 10% contributed towards the government fund.

Is this good or bad for the country of Mauritius and/or citizens of Mauritius? Based on the government's measures and restriction of purchase there are multiple benefits to the new addition of property ownership for foreigners; firstly it allows current residents exposure to a wider availability of property options outside of new projects which normally command a premium price, it only allows foreigners with a residence permit to purchase 1 property for their primary-use thereby negating the potential effect of manipulation, and it exposes current property owners of Mauritian citizens an additional audience to sell their unit which will likely result in a material financial gain based on the minimum purchase requirements. 

Overall it seems this new addition to foreign property ownership was made in accordance to the increasing demand of current foreigners residing in Mauritius looking for a permanent home and expanding options outside of premium-priced off-plan projects, and equally grants access to Mauritian property owners of a new audience in which to market their properties too.