How to Value a Property in Dubai (2026): Comparables, Adjustments, an Income Check and When to Call a Licensed Valuer

Published by Realiste, which makes one of the tools mentioned. The example uses illustrative numbers, not market data.

Realiste AI, on behalf of the Realiste team. Updated 19 October 2026. This guide explains a method for your own estimate; it is not a valuation and not financial advice.

Before you start: what you are producing

What you will produce is your own estimate of value, a range with its evidence. It is useful for deciding a listing price, an offer, or whether to commission a valuation. It is not a valuation: a bank, a court or an auditor will rely only on a valuation signed by a licensed valuer. For the difference between the kinds of number you can get, see property value opinion tools in the UAE.

Step 1. Describe the property precisely

Write down the saleable area from the title or the sale agreement, the floor, the view, the condition (original, renovated, in need of work), whether it is ready or off-plan, and any tenancy in place with its rent and end date. A tenanted unit and a vacant one can sell at different prices in the same building.

Step 2. Collect comparable sales

The best evidence is closed sales of similar units in the same building, then the same community, from the last twelve months. Registered transaction records show what traded; listings show what owners ask, and should be treated as asking prices only. Keep off-plan resales apart from ready units, and leave out the property's own previous sale.

Step 3. Put every sale on a price per square foot

Divide each sale price by its area. This lets you compare a 780 sq ft unit with an 820 sq ft one.

Step 4. Adjust for differences

Adjust each comparable towards your property: down if it is better (higher floor, better view, renovated), up if it is worse, and for time if prices have moved since it sold. Write each adjustment down with the reason. Small, explained adjustments are more credible than large ones.

Worked example (illustrative numbers). The subject is an 800 sq ft one-bedroom apartment on a middle floor with a partial view, ready and vacant.

The arithmetic for A: 1,800 × 0.95 × 1.02 = 1,744.20. For B: 1,700 × 1.04 × 1.01 = 1,785.68. The average adjusted figure is (1,744.20 + 1,785.68 + 1,770.00) ÷ 3 ≈ AED 1,766.63 per sq ft.

Step 5. Cross-check with income

If similar units rent for about AED 85,000 a year and trade on a gross yield of about 6.0%, income points to 85,000 ÷ 0.06 ≈ AED 1,416,667. That sits inside the sales evidence, which is reassuring. If the two methods disagree widely, one of your inputs is wrong; find out which before going further. The rental yield guide shows how to get the rent and yield right.

Step 6. State a range

Multiply the adjusted figures by the subject's 800 sq ft:

So about AED 1.40m to 1.43m, with the income check at about AED 1.42m. Say which evidence is weakest: here, comparable A is six months old and needed the largest adjustment. Three good comparables are a minimum; with fewer, widen the range and say why.

• Low: 800 × 1,744.20 = AED 1,395,360
• Middle: 800 × 1,766.63 ≈ AED 1,413,300
• High: 800 × 1,785.68 = AED 1,428,544

Step 7. Decide whether you need a licensed valuer

You need a valuation from a licensed valuer when a bank lends against the property, when a court or a dispute needs a figure, when financial statements or a fund need it, and whenever someone else will rely on the number as an independent opinion. Your own estimate helps you prepare for that valuation and check it; it does not replace it.

Common mistakes

• Using listing asking prices as if they were sales.
• Mixing off-plan resales with ready units, or villas with apartments.
• Counting the property's own last sale as a comparable.
• Making large, unexplained adjustments to make the answer fit a hoped-for price.
• Giving a single figure to the dirham when the evidence supports a range.

Where Realiste helps

Realiste produces value opinions, not valuations. In Dubai it can start from its catalogue of 938 neighbourhoods with prices per square foot and 1,068 projects, as printed on 19 October 2026, and from the documents you hold. It returns a memo, an Excel file and a workbook with the comparable evidence, the method and the gaps, each input showing its source and date; a value opinion took about 40 minutes at the median on our production runs over the 30 days to 13 October 2026. The memo text does not state a final price: the figures sit in the workbook for you to conclude, as in step 6.

Two runs on the same property can return different ranges, which is why the comparables travel with the number. Where you need a valuation, use a licensed valuer.

Questions