Property Valuation in Dubai

The Dubai Land Department's own valuation service, or a company on the Department's register of accredited real estate valuation companies. In proceedings, a valuer appointed by the court or tribunal displaces the parties' own valuations for most purposes. A lender's panel valuer binds the lender's decision but not the parties' contract. An estate agent's appraisal is not a valuation — it is useful for pricing a listing and it will not carry weight where something turns on the number.

As published and checked on 29 August 2026: AED 4,000 for residential apartments and villas; AED 2,000 for vacant commercial or industrial grant land; AED 6,000 for agricultural property; AED 10,000 for major project phases; and AED 15,000 for hotel buildings with land — each plus AED 10 and AED 10 knowledge and innovation fees, and in most cases a possible further amount plus VAT. Published turnaround is instant for residential units and attached villas and seven working days for other property types. Channels are the Real Estate Services Trustees Centres, the Dubai REST app and the Dubai Now app. Published fees change; confirm before relying on them.

The difference has to be funded from somewhere, because the lender lends against its own valuation rather than your price. Whether the purchase agreement gives you any relief depends on how the mortgage condition is drafted — which is why that clause belongs in the contract before signing. Practically: obtain the report rather than the figure, identify whether there is a specific defect in it, and use the lender's own review process where one exists before commissioning anything of your own.

Rarely sufficient on its own. A second opinion does not displace the first unless there is a reason to prefer it, and commissioning one before you have read the first simply produces two numbers and no argument. Establish what the valuation is being used for and by whom; obtain the actual report; identify the specific defect — wrong basis, wrong date, an assumption contradicted by the facts, comparables that are not comparable, or a limited inspection; use whatever review mechanism exists; and only then commission your own, instructed on the correct basis and date.

Usually legitimately, and almost always because of one of a small number of things: a different basis of value (market value, forced sale value, investment value and reinstatement value are different exercises producing different numbers); a different valuation date; different assumptions, such as vacant possession assumed where the property is tenanted, or completion assumed where the unit is off-plan; different comparables or different adjustments; or a different extent of inspection. The number is the least informative part of a valuation report.

The Dubai Land Department provides a service to verify an evaluation certificate, and a separate service for registering valuation certificate data. Where a certificate is central to a transaction, a financing application or a dispute, use it rather than accepting the document at face value. Also check the valuer against the register of accredited valuation companies rather than against the letterhead, read the certificate itself for basis, date, assumptions and limitations, and confirm it describes the right property against the register.

A valuation is an opinion of value on a stated basis at a stated date. An inspection is an assessment of physical condition — defects, workmanship, systems and what needs fixing. They answer different questions, they are produced by different professionals, and a valuation report will usually say expressly how limited its inspection was. Before buying you generally want both, and before signing a handover document that records acceptance you certainly want the inspection.

Where valuation is contested in proceedings it becomes expert evidence, which is a different discipline. Court or tribunal-appointed experts displace the parties' own valuations for most purposes, and engaging properly with the appointment and the questions put to the expert is more useful than commissioning a rival report. Instructions matter as much as expertise: an expert instructed on the wrong basis or the wrong date produces a report that cannot help however good the valuer.

Agree the basis and the valuer before anyone commissions anything. A jointly instructed valuer, on an agreed basis and date, costs a fraction of two competing reports followed by an argument about which to prefer. Where property is held through a company, note that what is being valued is the shareholding rather than the property, which is a different exercise again.

Obtain a valuation from an accepted source — the Department's own service or an accredited valuation company — rather than an agent's appraisal, and do it early rather than at the point of disagreement. Fix the date the value is taken at and be consistent across all assets. Reflect encumbrances: a mortgaged property passes with its mortgage and the estate's position is the net figure. Reflect any tenancy rather than assuming it away. Disagreement about value is one of the most common reasons an estate stalls.

No — it is a separate exercise, and in Dubai it interacts with a regulatory framework rather than the open market alone. The Land Department provides a rental valuation service, and permitted increases are governed by Decree No. 43 of 2013, which sets bands according to how far the current rent sits below the index average; since January 2025 this has been delivered through the Smart Rental Index. The index determines what is permitted, not the landlord's expectation. Notice is a separate requirement — ninety days before expiry under Article 14 of Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended, unless otherwise agreed.

Often not. Valuation reports commonly restrict who may rely on them, and a report addressed to a lender is frequently not one a buyer may rely on. That restriction is in the report, which is one more reason to read the document rather than the figure. If you need a valuation you can rely on, it needs to be instructed for you and on the correct basis.