Dubai: "People are managing their assets more carefully than a couple of years ago. It is a positive sign that people are taking stock of their assets," says Alan England, the Director of the MENEA — Middle East Near East Africa — region for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The global downturn has made everyone more prudent and the real estate market in the UAE is fast maturing, using internationally recognised valuation standards is part of the parcel. The Land Department's valuation centre or Taqyeem wants to make sure the right standards are applied.
"The valuation committee aims to provide clients with quality services that guarantee a fair valuation of their property in addition to emphasising the department's position as the official real estate reference in the market," said Mohammad Ahmad Belgaizi, director of the Technical Affairs Department and head of the valuations experts committee.
Requests to evaluate their properties have mainly come from individuals, around 60 per cent, and the remaining from companies, for various types of properties. Most of the valuations, 40 per cent, involved commercial buildings, including offices, hotels, apartment blocks, show rooms and the like. Another 30 per cent focused on empty land and 20 per cent were for villas and apartments. But how to get valuation of varying types of real estate right?
Mohamad Khodr Al Dah, the head of Taqyeem, states that the Land Department follows international standards in its valuation. "We looked at the International Valuation Standards Committee [IVSC], the European Group of Valuers' Association and RICS." RICS is an international industry standard and its ‘Red Book' addresses the ethics to be applied during valuations.
