Buying a home in Qatar with Islamic financing is not a niche pursuit. It is the default. Qatar banned conventional banks from running Islamic windows in 2011, which left four fully Islamic banks serving the retail market: Qatar Islamic Bank, Dukhan Bank, AlRayan Bank and QIIB. Per Fitch Ratings figures cited in the IFN Annual Guide 2026, Islamic banks held 25% of Qatar's banking sector assets as of the first quarter of 2025. Every product in this guide comes from those four banks' own published terms, crawled and verified on August 4, 2026.
That is the good news. The harder news is that shopping between them takes work, because each bank discloses a different slice of the picture. One publishes its rate formula but not its limits. Another publishes its limits but not its rate. This guide assembles what is actually knowable, and flags what you will only learn in a branch.
Ready to compare halal options?
The structures: Murabaha, Ijara and construction contracts
Qatari home finance runs predominantly on two contract families. The first is Murabaha, a cost-plus sale: the bank acquires the property interest and sells it to you at a fixed, agreed markup, repaid in instalments. QIB's own FAQ describes exactly this pattern: you pay a down payment, the bank pays the seller the balance, and your monthly instalments cover the property value plus an agreed profit rate. The second is Ijara, a lease: the bank owns the property, you pay rent, and ownership transfers to you for a nominal amount at the end of the term. Dukhan Bank's Constructed Properties Finance is the clearest Ijara product in the market, and the only one whose mechanics are fully documented on a public FAQ, down to the assignment of ownership rights being notarised at the Ministry of Justice. For self-builders, construction finance exists at Dukhan Bank (up to QAR 7.5 million) and within QIIB's mortgage product, typically structured in the Istisna or forward Ijara family, though neither bank names the construction contract on its page. Our Murabaha vs Ijarah guide works through which structure suits which buyer.
The regulatory frame: QCB caps decide your deposit
Qatar Central Bank sets financing-to-value ceilings by borrower category. AlRayan Bank's home finance offer page states them plainly: Qatari clients can finance up to 80% of the property value, residents and non-residents up to 75%, per QCB instructions. Individual banks can be stricter, and QIB is: it finances up to 70% of property value, with published down payments of 20% for Qataris, 25% for residents and from 40% for non-residents. Instalment caps follow a parallel pattern in QIB's published matrix: 75% of basic salary plus social allowance for Qatari nationals, 50% of total salary for residents. Our QCB caps explainer covers what these numbers mean for your deposit in riyals.
The four banks at a glance
| Bank | Max LTV (published) | Max term | Rate disclosure | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIB | 70% of property value | 30 years Qatari, 25 years expat | Not published | Murabaha-pattern sale (per FAQ) |
| Dukhan Bank | Not published (QCB caps apply) | 15 years | Floating, QCB-linked, figures not published | Ijara, fully documented |
| AlRayan Bank | 80% Qatari, 75% resident and non-resident | Not published | QMRO + 1.50% retail, + 1.25% Premier; promo 3.50% APR first 2 years | Murabaha family (published master agreements) |
| QIIB | 80% of property value | 360 months (30 years) | Not published | Murabaha or Istisna (contract set published, page silent) |
Each cell hides a story. QIIB's 80% LTV over 30 years is the most aggressive headline in the market, and QIIB also accepts rental income as qualifying income, which no competitor advertises. But QIIB publishes no mortgage rate at all. AlRayan is the only bank whose home financing price you can compute before entering a branch: QMRO/N Lending plus 1.50% for retail customers with salaries of QAR 10,000 to 34,999, or plus 1.25% for Premier customers at QAR 35,000 and above. With QMRO at 4.35% effective December 11, 2025, that works out to 5.85% or 5.60% per annum. QIB publishes the most complete eligibility matrix in Qatar, covering down payments, salary floors, debt-burden caps and age bands per borrower class, and no rate whatsoever. Dukhan publishes its contract mechanics in detail and virtually no numbers.
Eligibility: what each borrower class faces
Qatari nationals get the best terms everywhere. At QIB: 20% down, minimum salary QAR 10,000 per month, terms to 30 years, ages 18 to 66, and instalments capped at 75% of basic salary plus social allowance. Residents at QIB need 25% down, a minimum salary of QAR 20,000 per month, and accept a 25-year cap, ages 21 to 60, with the finance calculator capped at QAR 3.5 million including profit. Non-residents can finance at QIB from 40% down, with income documents and proof of a foreign residential address. AlRayan also serves non-residents at the 75% QCB ceiling. Dukhan takes the opposite line: its FAQ states that non-residents cannot obtain a mortgage in Qatar and must pay cash, which tells you the banks read the non-resident question differently. We cover the details in our guides for Qatari nationals, resident expats and non-resident buyers.
One requirement is near-universal: salary transfer. QIB requires your employer to be on its approved list. Dukhan requires a salary transfer undertaking from salaried applicants. AlRayan's published formula pricing applies specifically to salary-backed financing; anything else is priced deal by deal. If your employer is small or unlisted, ask the bank early, because it can end an application before the property viewing does.
Where expats can actually buy
Foreign residents can buy property in designated zones. Dukhan Bank's FAQ enumerates the areas open to foreigners living in Qatar, a list of 17 zones including Al Sadd, Najma, Musheireb, Lusail (with Al Kharaij and Jebel Thiya), Umm Ghuwailina, Doha Jadeed, Al Dafna with Onaiza and Al Qitar, and others. Our freehold zones financing guide reproduces the full list and works through the financing angle.
What it costs beyond the rate
AlRayan publishes its fee schedule: a 1% feasibility fee, QAR 500 documentation, and a 1% early settlement charge, plus property Takaful at up to 0.08% annually and life Takaful at up to 0.062% monthly per its published tariff. QIB claims only a feasibility fee and no separate mortgage or valuation charges, but requires two property valuations from QIB-accredited companies at your expense, and includes complimentary life Takaful in the package. Dukhan requires life and property Takaful without quantifying the cost. Late payment at AlRayan triggers a QAR 100 commitment-to-donate fee routed to charity rather than bank income, which is the classical Islamic treatment of default charges. Budget these items: on a QAR 1.5 million financing, a 1% feasibility fee alone is QAR 15,000.
The promotional wildcard
Through August 31, 2026, AlRayan is running the sharpest published home finance rate in Qatar: 3.50% APR for the first two years on financings of QAR 1 million or more, with a cashback of one month's gross salary capped at QAR 100,000. The catch is a three-year retention undertaking; leave early via a buyout and you repay the full cashback plus the difference between the standard and promotional rates. Our promo analysis does the clawback math.
How to run your own comparison
- Fix your borrower class first (Qatari, resident, non-resident), because it determines your LTV ceiling, salary floor and maximum term before any negotiation starts.
- Get AlRayan's formula rate in writing as your benchmark: QMRO + 1.50% (or + 1.25% above QAR 35,000 salary) is currently 5.85% or 5.60%.
- Ask QIB, Dukhan and QIIB for written quotes including the contract name, the profit rate, all fees and the total repayment amount.
- Ask Dukhan and QIIB specifically which contract carries your deal; both publish contract libraries but leave product pages silent.
- Compare Takaful treatment: complimentary at QIB and inside Dukhan's vehicle products, itemised at AlRayan.
- Check the early exit terms before signing, not after. A 1% settlement fee plus promo clawbacks can erase a refinancing gain.
Run your numbers through our financing calculator, browse the full product shelf on our home financing page, or get matched if you want help narrowing the field.
Frequently asked questions
Is home financing from Qatari banks genuinely halal?
The structural case is strong. All four banks are fully Islamic institutions with no conventional book, each overseen by a named Shariah board: QIB's three-scholar Shari'a Supervisory Board is chaired by Sheikh Walid Bin Hadi, and Dukhan's Shariah and Fatwa Advisory Board issues binding decisions. The financing contracts are sales and leases rather than interest-bearing loans. The honest caveat is disclosure: most product pages do not name the contract used, so structure-sensitive buyers should request the contract name and the Shariah board resolution at application.
What deposit do I need in 2026?
Plan on 20% as a Qatari national and 25% as a resident, tracking the QCB financing-to-value caps of 80% and 75% that AlRayan publishes. QIB's stricter 70% ceiling means 30% equity on its product in practice for some buyers, though its published down payment tiers start at 20% for Qataris. Non-residents should plan on 25% at AlRayan or 40% at QIB, and note Dukhan will not finance them at all.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Which bank is cheapest?
Unknowable in general, because only AlRayan publishes standard pricing. At the August 2026 benchmark its salary-backed rate computes to 5.85% (retail) or 5.60% (Premier), and its 3.50% two-year promo undercuts everything published in the market while it lasts. QIB has advertised from 5.95% reducing in past campaigns but publishes nothing today. Get all four quotes in writing; the spread between them can be worth tens of thousands of riyals over a 25-year term.