Nismat Zain, Sur — Surooh Villas, Townhouses & Plots in Oman

Nismat Zain, Sur — 358 Surooh Villas, Townhouses and Plots on Oman’s Eastern Coast

Nismat Zain is an integrated residential community of 358 homes — townhouses, standalone villas and serviced land plots — under construction in Sur, the historic port city on Oman’s south-eastern coast, in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate. It is built by Zain Property Development under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning’s Surooh programme for integrated neighbourhoods. Townhouses open at $104,000 and villas at $130,000, 81 units are listed as available, and completion is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2033, per the developer.

Two features shape the project. The first is the ownership framework: like its sister scheme Husn Al Zain in Bidbid, Nismat Zain is a government-programme neighbourhood built principally for Omani citizens. Sur is not an Integrated Tourism Complex, the homes are two-storey houses rather than apartment buildings, and part of the offer is serviced land plots, so eligibility to buy is set by the Surooh programme rules and confirmed by the developer in writing. The second is the timeline: the developer’s handover target is the fourth quarter of 2033. The sections below set out both, together with the five house types, prices, location, community facilities and the reservation process.

Nismat Zain at a Glance

Ownership Framework and Buyer Eligibility

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning lists Nismat Zain on its Surooh project register — a 268,339 m² site in the Wilayat of Sur with standalone and attached villas, plus a mosque, green space and a commercial area. Surooh is the ministry’s programme for building complete residential districts for Omani citizens entitled to residential plots, delivered in partnership with private developers who design, finance, build and market them.

The table below sets the main ownership frameworks in Oman beside the position of Nismat Zain within each:

Eligibility under the programme is decided project by project. Hay Al Wafa in Sultan Haitham City, a neighbourhood in the related Hai family, is open to non-Omanis. For Nismat Zain, the developer confirms in writing whether a buyer is eligible to purchase in the scheme before any payment is made, and that confirmation is the second item on the reservation checklist further down this page.

On residency, the Golden Residency property route requires a single property inside an ITC worth at least OMR 200,000, and the Royal Oman Police decides each application. The entry townhouse at Nismat Zain is about OMR 40,000 and the entry villa OMR 49,985, both below OMR 200,000, and the homes sit under the Surooh programme outside the ITC framework. The Owner Visa has no minimum value, and whether a particular Surooh home qualifies depends on the programme rules and the Royal Oman Police. Listings inside an ITC, such as Alef Qurum Residence in central Muscat, Muscat Bay and Al Mina at Barr Al Jissah, are described on their own pages.

The Five House Types

The brochure defines five models. Sizes and plots repeat the pattern used at Husn Al Zain, but the layouts differ — and Types U and W add a formal majlis, the reception room that matters in Omani family life.

The five built-up areas match the published range of 1,862 to 3,057 sq ft.

Type R (173 m² on 140 m²) is the townhouse and the entry point. Its ground floor holds a family hall of 4.0 × 4.2 m, a 3.8 × 3.8 m kitchen, a guest bedroom with bathroom, a maid’s room, laundry and a 5.0 × 5.0 m parking bay. Upstairs are a master bedroom at 3.8 × 6.0 m plus two further bedrooms and a 5.7 × 7.8 m roof terrace. It offers four bedrooms on a 140 m² plot, and the render shows the townhouses built in continuous terraces, with neighbours on both sides.

Type S (183 m² on 280 m²) adds ten square metres of building over Type R but doubles the plot, converting a terrace into a detached house with a 7.6 × 8.6 m garden and three parking spaces. It drops to three bedrooms and gains an entrance lobby, a separate dining hall of 2.6 × 4.9 m and a 3.5 × 7.3 m first-floor terrace. The type suits a household that prefers a garden to a fourth bedroom.

Type T (227 m² on 280 m²) keeps Type S’s plot and adds 44 m² of building — four bedrooms, and also a separate living room on the first floor (4.07 × 2.9 m) alongside the bedrooms, giving the upper storey its own sitting area independent of the ground-floor family hall. That second lounge suits a household with older children or visiting relatives.

Type U (260 m² on 350 m²) is a five-bedroom model that includes a majlis at 4.0 × 3.8 m with its own guest toilet, plus a dining room, a 6.8 × 11.7 m garden and a 6.5 × 15.0 m first-floor terrace.

Type W (284 m² on 350 m²) carries the majlis, five bedrooms, a first-floor living room and a garden of 8.1 × 20.0 m. It shares the 350 m² plot size of Type U, with the building arranged to leave a long private garden strip, so the two types differ mainly in garden length and built-up area (284 m² against 260 m²).

Every model includes a maid’s room with its own bathroom, and every model is handed over finished — the interiors shown are complete, with fitted kitchens, wardrobes and bathrooms in a blue-and-white palette that echoes the exteriors.

Prices

All conversions use 1 OMR = 2.6008 USD. Quotations are given in Omani rials against a named plot number.

The table below sets the price per square foot at Nismat Zain beside other listings on this site:

The Nismat Zain townhouse is priced at $56 per square foot and the villa at $66, the same figure as Husn Al Zain, against $166 for a one-bedroom apartment at Alef Qurum Residence and $261 for a studio at Uptown Muscat. Price per square foot is the dollar price divided by the built-up area in square feet.

Reading the Price Table, Unit by Unit

The price table has two rows, one for each entry product. The Type R townhouse has a built-up area of 1,862 sq ft (173 m²) and a price of $104,000, equal to OMR 39,988, which is about $56 per square foot (OMR 21.5) or OMR 231 per square metre. The Type S villa has 1,970 sq ft (183 m²) and a price of $130,000, equal to OMR 49,985, which is about $66 per square foot (OMR 25.4) or OMR 273 per square metre. The villa is 108 sq ft larger and costs $26,000 (OMR 9,997) more.

Payment Terms and Financing

The dated instalment schedule is provided with the reservation paperwork. A schedule normally lists each instalment with a date or a construction milestone, so the buyer can see what falls due before handover and what is payable on handover. Financing, where used, is arranged with a bank directly: NBO Muzn Islamic Banking has announced memoranda for Husn Al Zain, Alizz Islamic Bank has an agreement with the developer for other Zain projects, and each bank sets its own rate, tenor and eligibility rules.

Where an instalment is quoted as a percentage, the arithmetic is simple. Ten per cent of the Type R price is OMR 3,998.80 ($10,400), and 25% is OMR 9,997 ($26,000). Ten per cent of the Type S price is OMR 4,998.50 ($13,000), and 25% is OMR 12,496.25 ($32,500). These figures only illustrate the conversion; the amounts and dates that apply are those in the schedule issued with the reservation.

Handover Timeline and Escrow Protection

The developer’s handover target for Nismat Zain is the fourth quarter of 2033, about seven years from today. The sale and purchase agreement states the handover date that applies to the home being bought.

The points below describe how the build period is handled in practice:

• Payment schedule. Instalments run from reservation to handover according to the dated schedule issued with the reservation paperwork.
• Escrow account. Under Royal Decree 79/2025, buyers’ payments for a licensed project are deposited into an escrow account in the project’s name, with withdrawals released against approved construction phases; the escrow bank and account details are available in writing at reservation.
• Sale and purchase agreement. The agreement states the handover date, the specification, the payment schedule and the terms for assignment or cancellation.
• Plot and handover date. The reservation form names the unit, the model, the plot number and the price in rials, so the handover date in the agreement is read against the plot being bought.
• Availability. 81 units are listed as available, and the developer confirms current availability by plot.

At handover the home is inspected before it is accepted. A snagging list records anything still to be finished, and the developer completes the items on it. The property is then registered at the real estate register, and the ministry’s rules govern what a buyer must present.

Location: Sur, South Al Sharqiyah

Nismat Zain lies in the Wilayat of Sur. The plus code decodes to 22.5469° N, 59.5173° E — about 2.5 km from the centre of Sur and roughly 153 km from central Muscat, a drive of two to three hours along the coastal road. The site sits on the southern shore of Sur’s lagoon, beside a wadi, with the Arabian Sea a short distance north.

Sur is a historic dhow-building port at the mouth of a turquoise lagoon, with the Al Ayjah lighthouse and corniche across the water, Sanesla and Skikra forts on the ridges, a maritime museum and a traditional shipyard still building wooden vessels. In 2024 Sur was named Arab Tourism Capital, and the surrounding region includes natural attractions such as Ras Al Jinz, Wadi Shab and Al Rafsah.

The drive times fall into two groups. Indian School Sur, the Dhow Factory Museum, Global Village Hypermarket, Country Park Tire State and Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic are between 5 and 9 minutes away. The Oman College of Health Sciences, the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Emaad Sur Shopping Centre, the Al Rafsah natural attraction and Sur Murtafa Beach are between 11 and 16 minutes away. The times are those given in the brochure.

Further afield lie Ras Al Hadd and Ras Al Jinz, the green turtle nesting reserves about 35 km east; Wadi Shab, around 43 km west; and the ruins of Qalhat, the medieval port described by Marco Polo and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Muscat International Airport is roughly 170 km away by road.

The Community

The masterplan is laid out along the lagoon edge, with terraces and villa plots arranged around a central spine and a wadi running through the eastern side of the site. The published legend identifies a main entrance and guards’ room, a side entrance, mosque, shops, a commercial building, an activity building, a central park combining playground, kids’ area, seating, cycling track and green walkways, a sewage treatment plant, a jogging track, and a bridge across the wadi.

The boulevard is a landscaped promenade running along the rocky shoreline, with a curved, timber-finned pavilion overlooking the water, as shown in the renders.

The masterplan marks wadi areas and a wadi setback zone along the eastern boundary, and the on-site sewage treatment plant recycles water for the landscaping, which supports the green spine in this climate.

Sur: Economy and Tourism

The brochure sets out the case for Sur. The city has an active trading port, proximity to major energy and industrial projects in the region, a growing student population served by two colleges, and a tourism draw built on turtles, wadis, forts and dhow heritage, reinforced by the Arab Tourism Capital 2024 designation. The brochure states that this supports demand for both short- and long-term rental, including serviced apartments and tourist villas.

Tourism in Sur is centred on the corniche, Ras Al Jinz and the wadis, while Nismat Zain sits on the southern shore of the lagoon. Official population and economic series are published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, and tourism policy by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.

The Surooh Programme

Under Oman Vision 2040 the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning has been developing integrated residential neighbourhoods — whole districts with mosques, schools, parks and retail rather than bare land grants — for Omani citizens entitled to residential plots. The government supplies land and utilities; private consultants, banks, developers and contractors handle design, funding, construction and sales.

Surooh is housing for citizens delivered with a policy purpose, and the prices quoted on this page are those of the developer’s sales sheet. Related initiatives include the Hai neighbourhoods and the large district-building programme at Sultan Haitham City, where schemes such as Jood and Al Ahlam operate under a framework that has been opened more widely.

In May 2025 the Oman Observer and the Times of Oman reported that the Surooh initiative comprised 18 integrated projects across the governorates, covering more than 6 million square metres and more than 9,950 homes, with estimated investment above RO 500 million. Both articles list Nismat Zain in Sur among the projects, and the ministry’s project register carries a page for the neighbourhood.

The Developer: Zain Property Development

Zain Property Development was established in 2008 and works across residential and commercial property inside and outside Oman, under the tagline “affordable luxury is everything.” Its stated portfolio includes Dar Al Zain, Tawi Al Zain, Zain Height, Zain Park, The Zain, Al Muna Gardens, Zain Azaiba, Murooj Al Zain, Husn Al Zain and Al Zain View.

Zain Property Development is building two Surooh neighbourhoods: Husn Al Zain in Ad Dakhiliyah and Nismat Zain in South Al Sharqiyah. Husn Al Zain is roughly 95% sold, according to the sales material.

The company describes itself as a family-owned Omani business with its head office at Airport Heights, Muscat. Its project pages list Al Muna Gardens, a community of 122 villas in two models in Bausher Heights; Zain View in Ghala, Airport Heights, with 198 residential units; and Murooj Al Zain in Salalah, a community of 292 apartments of 78 to 133 square metres. The Zain Property Development profile on this site collects these facts with their sources, and the developer hub lists every developer profile.

Nismat Zain Beside Other Listings

The table sets each project’s setting, framework, handover target and buyer basis side by side. Nismat Zain and Husn Al Zain are Surooh programme neighbourhoods in Sur and Bidbid, where eligibility follows the programme rules, while the ITC freehold projects are open to foreign buyers.

Within the developer’s own range, Husn Al Zain in Bidbid offers three house models, O, P and Q, against five at Nismat Zain. Model O is a terraced townhouse of 173 m² (1,862 sq ft) on a 140 m² plot, with the same dimensions as Type R, and Model P is a standalone villa of 183 m² (1,970 sq ft) on a 280 m² plot, matching Type S. Husn Al Zain has 639 homes, 418 standalone villas and 221 townhouses, according to the ministry register, a handover target of Q4 2027 and an entry price of $123,500 (OMR 47,485) for Model O, about $66 per square foot. Nismat Zain adds Types T, U and W, with built-up areas of 227, 260 and 284 m², and its entry townhouse is $104,000 (OMR 39,988), about $56 per square foot.

Who the Project Suits

• Omani citizens entitled to residential land — the buyer group the Surooh programme is designed for.
• Families already based in Sur and South Al Sharqiyah — a serviced neighbourhood with a mosque, nursery, park and shops.
• Buyers with a long horizon — those comfortable committing funds until the handover target in 2033.
• Those who want a plot rather than a house — the serviced land plots allow a self-designed home inside a managed community.

Buyers who are looking for freehold in an Integrated Tourism Complex, or for the Golden Residency route, can compare the ITC listings linked throughout this page.

How Buying Works, Step by Step

Buying a home from Zain Property Development follows the usual off-plan sequence in Oman, now set by the Real Estate Regulation Law issued as Royal Decree 79/2025. Our guide to the law for off-plan buyers covers it in full. The steps below describe the sequence in plain terms.

1. Choose the model and plot. At Nismat Zain the choice is between Types R, S, T, U and W, and the plot number decides the garden size, the parking and the price, so quotations are given against a named plot.
2. Confirm eligibility. Surooh homes are delivered under the ministry’s programme rules, so the developer confirms in writing whether the buyer is eligible to purchase in the scheme before any money changes hands.
3. Sign the reservation form and pay the booking amount. The form names the unit, the price in rials and the payment schedule.
4. Sign the sale and purchase agreement. The agreement states the handover date, the specification, the payment schedule and the terms for assignment or cancellation.
5. Pay by instalments into the project escrow account. Under the law, payments for a licensed project are deposited into an escrow account in the project’s name, with withdrawals released against approved construction phases.
6. Arrange financing if needed. Each bank sets its own eligibility and terms.
7. Inspect the home before handover. A snagging list records anything to be finished, and the developer completes the items on it.
8. Register the property at the real estate register, where the ministry’s rules govern what a buyer must present.

Golden Residency and the Owner Visa in Detail

Oman has several distinct routes by which non-citizens can own property, and each has its own conditions. Freehold ownership is available in designated ITC and similar zones, apartment usufruct rights apply to buildings of a set minimum height, and the programme rules apply to Surooh homes. Our guides to freehold property in Oman and to property ownership rules for foreigners in Oman set out how these frameworks differ.

The Golden Residency test is applied to one property inside an ITC, so the price of the individual home is the figure compared with OMR 200,000 ($520,160 at the peg). The two entry prices at Nismat Zain, OMR 39,988 and OMR 49,985, are below that figure. The Owner Visa has no minimum value, and the Royal Oman Police decides each case. Our comparison of Golden Residency and the Owner Visa lays out the conditions side by side.

Ownership Costs, Currency and Paying from Abroad

Zain Property Development quotes prices in Omani rials for local buyers, while the sales sheets are in US dollars. The conversion rate is fixed at 2.6008 dollars per rial, so $104,000 is OMR 39,988 and $130,000 is OMR 49,985. Because the rial is pegged to the dollar, the two currencies move together; see the rial peg guide. Our guide to price per square metre in Oman explains the calculation used in the price table.

What to Prepare When Reserving

• Reservation form: naming the unit, the model (R, S, T, U or W), the plot number and the price in Omani rials.
• Eligibility confirmation: the developer’s written confirmation that the buyer is eligible to purchase in the Surooh neighbourhood.
• Sale and purchase agreement: with the handover date stated.
• Escrow account details: the escrow bank and account for the project, as required under Royal Decree 79/2025.
• Payment schedule: the dated schedule showing each instalment and the amount due on handover.
• Title documents: the form of ownership to be registered in the buyer’s name.
• Service-charge schedule: the annual charges for landscaping, security, the sewage treatment plant and shared facilities.
• Specification schedule and identity: finishes, kitchens, wardrobes and parking, plus a passport or Omani identity card for the reservation form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Nismat Zain?

Nismat Zain is in the Wilayat of Sur, South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, on the southern shore of the Sur lagoon. It is about 2.5 km from the centre of Sur and roughly 153 km from central Muscat.

Which house types are offered?

There are five models, Types R, S, T, U and W, with built-up areas of 173 to 284 m² on plots of 140 to 350 m² and three, four or five bedrooms. Every model includes a maid’s room, and Types U and W add a majlis.

How much do the homes cost?

Townhouses start at $104,000 (OMR 39,988) and villas at $130,000 (OMR 49,985), about $56 and $66 per square foot. Both entry prices are below OMR 200,000.

When is the handover?

The developer’s handover target is the fourth quarter of 2033. The sale and purchase agreement states the handover date that applies to the home being bought.

Who can buy under the Surooh programme?

The ministry describes Surooh as housing for Omani citizens entitled to residential land, delivered with private developers. Eligibility is set by the programme rules, and the developer confirms in writing whether a buyer is eligible to purchase in the scheme.

How are buyers’ payments handled?

Under Royal Decree 79/2025, buyers’ payments for a licensed project are deposited into an escrow account in the project’s name, with withdrawals released against approved construction phases. The escrow bank and account details can be requested in writing at reservation.

Talk to Us About Oman

UInvest Group works directly with developers across Oman. On Nismat Zain we can obtain current availability from the 81 listed units, plot-specific pricing in Omani rials, the full specification for all five house types, the handover schedule behind the Q4 2033 target and the developer’s written eligibility confirmation.

Other freehold ITC listings on this site include Alef Qurum Residence inside the Telal Al Qurm ITC in central Muscat, the marina and beachfront communities at Al Mouj and Barr Al Jissah, and the resort villas at Jebel Sifah, all open to foreign freehold ownership, with Golden Residency decided under the rule of a single ITC property worth at least OMR 200,000. Mortgage benchmarks are published by the Central Bank of Oman, general information on the Sultanate at oman.om, and current affairs by the Times of Oman.