How to value a Dubai property, from what actually sold.
The owner's way to value a Dubai home: from the prices that actually registered, not the ones in the windows.
By the Mulki team · Updated 9 June 2026
To value a Dubai property, start with what similar units actually sold for in your own building on Dubai Land Department records, not the asking prices around you, which typically run 5% to 15% high. Then adjust for floor, view, size, condition, and the service charge. A bank or RICS valuation is the formal version of the same exercise.
Value from closed DLD transactions in your building, not the listings around you. Asking prices in Dubai typically sit 5% to 15% above what units actually sell for.
Four things move value most: the building and location, the floor and view, the size and layout, and the condition, age and service charge.
Free estimates like Bayut's TruEstimate are a starting point, not an answer. They lean on listing data and tend to read high.
For a mortgage, a dispute or probate you need a RICS-registered valuation. The DLD also runs an official valuation service.
A high service charge that drags your yield drags your resale value too, because buyers price the cost of holding the unit.
Start with what sold
The honest starting point is not a website estimate. It is the record of what units like yours have actually changed hands for. The Dubai Land Department registers every sale, and those registered prices, filtered to your building or its near neighbours and the last six to twelve months, are the truest signal you have.
Listings are the noisy version of this. An asking price is a hope, set with room to negotiate, and across Dubai it typically sits 5% to 15% above where deals close. Reading your value off the portals around you almost always flatters it. Read it off what sold.
What moves the number
- 01
The building and the location.
Two identical floor plans in different buildings, or different communities, are simply different assets. Anchor to your own building first, then your own cluster, before you widen out.
- 02
The floor and the view.
Height and outlook can move price per square foot by double digits in the same tower. A high floor with an open or water view is a different unit from a low floor facing a wall.
- 03
The size and the layout.
Price per square foot usually falls as size rises, so a large unit is not a small one scaled up. A wasteful layout, or a room the market does not value, discounts the whole.
- 04
The condition, the age, and the service charge.
An upgraded unit earns a premium and a tired one takes a discount. An older building or a high Mollak rate quietly pulls value down, because buyers price the cost of holding it.
Which valuation, and when
| Method | Best for |
|---|---|
| DLD closed transactions, your own estimate | The truest read, free, for buying, selling or a yearly review |
| Free estimate (TruEstimate, YallaValue) | A quick ballpark, knowing it tends to read high |
| Agent market appraisal | A sale-ready price, allowing for the agent wanting the listing |
| RICS-registered valuation | A mortgage, a court or rental dispute, probate, a company transfer |
| DLD valuation service | An official figure from the land department itself |
A practical guide for owners, June 2026. For anything legal or lending-related, use a RICS-registered valuer or the bank's appointed one.
Value it yourself in five steps
- 01
Pull the recent sales in your building.
On the DLD record or the Dubai REST app, list the registered sales in your building over the last year. If your building is small, widen to the immediate cluster of similar towers.
- 02
Reduce each one to price per square foot.
Divide each sale price by the unit size. This is the number you can compare across units that are not exactly like yours.
- 03
Adjust for floor, view and condition.
Move up or down from the building average for your floor, your outlook, and how your unit shows against the ones that sold.
- 04
Multiply back up by your size.
Your adjusted price per square foot times your square footage is your working value. A range of a few percent is honest. A single exact number is not.
- 05
Cross-check, and discount the listings.
Compare with a free estimate as a sanity check, expecting it to read a little high, and ignore the asking prices nearby.
General information, not a formal valuation. Reviewed June 2026.
A worked example
Say you own an 810 square foot one-bed in Dubai Marina. Three units like yours have registered sales in the building over the past year. Reduce each to a price per square foot, take the average for the building, then adjust for what makes your unit different. Yours is on a high floor with an open marina view, so it earns a premium over the building average.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Sale 1: AED 1,650,000 at 820 sq ft | AED 2,012/sq ft |
| Sale 2: AED 1,580,000 at 800 sq ft | AED 1,975/sq ft |
| Sale 3: AED 1,720,000 at 850 sq ft | AED 2,024/sq ft |
| Building average | About AED 2,000/sq ft |
| Adjusted for high floor and open view, +8% | AED 2,160/sq ft |
| Your value: AED 2,160 times 810 sq ft | AED 1,749,600 |
| Honest range | AED 1.70M to 1.80M |
Illustrative figures, of the kind that register for a Dubai Marina one-bed. Your own building's recorded sales are the real inputs. Not a formal valuation.
The output is a range, not a single number. AED 1.70 million to 1.80 million is defensible; AED 1,749,600 to the dirham is false precision the market will not honour. A free online estimate on the same unit would likely read a little above this, because it leans on the asking prices around you. Anchor to what sold.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I find out what my Dubai property is worth?
- Start with what comparable units in your own building have actually sold for, from Dubai Land Department records over the last six to twelve months. Reduce each sale to a price per square foot, adjust for your floor, view and condition, then multiply back up by your size. That gives a defensible range. Free online estimates are a cross-check, not the answer.
- Are Bayut and Property Finder price estimates accurate?
- Tools like TruEstimate are a reasonable starting point, but they lean on listing data as well as transactions, so they tend to read above what units actually sell for. Treat the number as the top of a range and confirm it against closed DLD transactions in your building.
- How much do asking prices differ from sold prices in Dubai?
- Asking prices in Dubai typically sit about 5% to 15% above where deals actually close, depending on the area and how hot it is. That is why valuing off the listings around you almost always flatters the figure, and why registered transactions are the honest base.
- When do I need an official or RICS valuation?
- For a mortgage, a court or rental dispute, probate, or a company share transfer, you need a formal valuation from a RICS-registered valuer, and banks appoint their own. The Dubai Land Department also runs an official valuation service. For your own buy, sell or review, a careful DLD-based estimate is usually enough.
- Does a high service charge lower my property's value?
- Yes. Buyers and their agents increasingly price the per-square-foot service charge into offers, because it is a permanent cost of holding the unit. A building charging well above its neighbours suffers twice, on rent competitiveness and on resale value.
- How do you value an off-plan property in Dubai?
- An off-plan unit has no resale history of its own yet, so you value it from two things: the developer's current price list for the units still selling, and the resale prices of completed units in the same project or a near neighbour. Your Oqood registration fixes the purchase on DLD records, but the real market value only firms up as the building completes and the first resales register. Until then, hold any figure as a wider range than you would for a ready unit.
- Rental yield calculatorTurn your value into the net yield it really earns.
- Selling cost calculatorWhat a sale at that value would actually leave you.
- Service charges, explainedWhy the Mollak rate moves both yield and resale value.
- The Golden Visa through Dubai propertyWhether your value clears the AED 2M line for a 10-year residency.
Mulki revalues every unit you own from each new sale in your building.
Get notified