Table of Contents
Topic Summary
Understand What Real Estate Valuation Covers
Real estate valuation means producing a professional opinion of a property's worth for purposes like sales, mortgage lending, accounting, or dispute resolution. It does not include brokering sales, investment strategy advice, or property management, which require separate licenses.
Recognize the Scale of Dubai's Market Demand
Dubai recorded around 226,000 real estate transactions worth AED 761 billion in 2024, with mortgage lending hitting a record 36,600 loans, up 30.2 percent year-on-year. This volume of financed transactions creates consistent, high demand for credible valuation services.
Choose the Right Business Activity Code
The specific activity you need is 6820.94 – Real Estate Valuation Services, which sits within the Real Estate Activities on a Fee or Contract Basis class. This code covers the valuation function exclusively, so you must add separate activities if you intend to offer brokerage or property management.
Secure RERA Pre-Approval Before Licensing
This activity requires pre-approval from the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) before Meydan Free Zone can issue your business license. Plan for this step early, as the license cannot be granted without it.
Know Which Activity Combinations Are Permitted
A Real Estate Valuation Services license can only be combined with other activities that fall within RERA Activity Group 3. Combining it with activities outside that group is not permitted, so review your full service offering before applying.
Confirm AML Obligations Do Not Apply Here
Unlike some financial and property-related activities, Real Estate Valuation Services under this license is not subject to Anti-Money Laundering compliance requirements. This simplifies your regulatory obligations when setting up the business.
Identify Whether This License Fits Your Profile
The license suits two main groups: qualified valuers building a dedicated practice, and advisory or finance firms that want to bring valuation in-house under a licensed entity. If you are producing professional opinions of value rather than selling or managing property, this activity is the right fit.
How to Start a Real Estate Valuation Services Business in Dubai with Meydan Free Zone
Real estate valuation is the professional business of assessing what a property is worth, for sales, purchases, mortgage lending, accounting and dispute resolution. In Dubai it is a foundational service, because every financed transaction and many corporate and legal processes depend on a credible valuation.
Demand tracks the wider market, which is substantial. Dubai recorded around 226,000 real estate transactions worth AED 761 billion in 2024. 1 Mortgage lending, which relies on valuation, reached a record 36,600 registered loans in the same year, up 30.2 per cent, and continued to grow into 2026. 2
Average values across the emirate reached roughly AED 1,916 per square foot for apartments and AED 1,594 for villas. 3
For qualified valuers, the volume of financed and corporate transactions makes valuation a consistently demanded activity to hold under a Meydan Free Zone business license, subject to the approval noted below.
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Why Valuation Demand Tracks the Market
Every financed purchase and many corporate processes need a credible valuation. The figures below show the transaction and lending volumes that drive valuation demand.
Sources: Cavendish Maxwell; Dubai Land Department; Driven Properties
Who Is This Activity For?
6820.94 - Real Estate Valuation Services
Activity 6820.94 sits within the broader Real Estate Activities on a Fee or Contract Basis class, which expressly includes appraisal services for real estate. Within that class, this activity is the valuation function: producing a professional opinion of a property's value for a defined purpose.
The activity is valuation. It does not extend to brokering the sale of the property, advising on investment strategy, or managing the property, which are separate licensed activities, as the exclusions below make clear.
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It is important to note what valuation services do not cover. Assessing a property's value is distinct from brokering its sale, which is a separate licensed activity. It also does not extend to general investment advice or to managing the property on the owner's behalf, both of which are licensed under their own activities.
In short: if you are producing a professional opinion of value, you are in. If you are brokering the sale, advising on strategy, or managing the property, those are separate activities.
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Compliance
THIRD-PARTY APPROVAL
This activity requires pre-approval from the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) before a business license can be issued by Meydan Free Zone. This license cannot be combined with other activities except those within RERA Activity Group 3.
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE
This business activity is not subject to AML compliance requirements.
References
1 Dubai Land Department. Dubai's real estate sector records AED 761 billion in transactions in 2024.
2 Cavendish Maxwell. Dubai Residential Market Performance 2024: mortgage lending reaches record 36,600 loans.
3 Driven Properties. Dubai real estate market guide: average prices per square foot.
