Tunisia officially the Tunisian Republic is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. It is also located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just over 10,300,000.

Real estate in Tunisia is a growing market that is beginning to attract international investment. Financiers of big property projects come mainly from Gulf countries such as The United Arab Emirates.

New office buildings are popping up in the capital Tunis, according to TIME Magazine. Multinational companies such as Pfizer, Eriksson and Siemens are moving in and setting up shop. Advertisings for luxury estates priced upwards of million dollars are beginning to be spotted.

A number of massive investments into the sector have also been announced.  In 2007, Sama Dubai inaugurated a $14 billion development known as the Century City and Mediterranean Gate, according to ArabianBusiness. The project is a joint venture between Dubai Holding and the Tunisian government. According to Sama’s Century City website, the plans include transforming more than 2,000 acres of land into a satellite city that will house more than 2,500 firms, retail and recreation centers, 14 luxury hotels and residential properties. The project is expected to take 15 years from start to finish.

Another large scale development is known as Tunis Sport City, a project by Emirati Boukhatir Holding, according to a recent article at Tunisia Online News. This development will see the construction of, among other things, a residential district with an 18-hole golf course, 49 luxury mansions, two residential villages, 10 high rise buildings, a sports complex with outdoor 10,000-seat and indoor 5,000-seat stadiums, Olympic swimming pools and gyms.

Foreigners are allowed to purchase real estate property in Tunisia. Until recently, Tunisian government officials discouraged investment in the real estate sector. Nonetheless, this policy seems to be being relaxed, though all real estate transactions are still subject to Governor’s Agreement’.

A preliminary contract of sale (promise of sale) is executed between the contracting parties. Whether there are any legal encumbrances on the property should be first checked at the Regional Land Ministry.

The contract is then prepared by a lawyer or a notary after consultation with the property registry services. In either case, the contract still needs to be notarized, and the contracting parties should be present.

After payment of the transfer tax and registration fee, the purchaser files an application for a title deed at the Land Property Administration, and doe a property certificate from the Regional Land Registry.