Property valuers get an updated rulebook adding data quality, ESG, and model valuation chapters

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) issued the second edition of Egypt’s real estate valuation standards — the first update in more than 11 years, the regulator said in a statement on Saturday. The new rules replace Decision 39 of 2015 (pdf), the only national framework since Egypt’s first-ever valuation rulebook came out. They take effect the day after publication in the Official Gazette — still pending.

The full text is not available yet. The FRA says the decision comes with a 140-page companion manual covering nine chapters plus annexes. Neither the decision pdf nor the manual has been uploaded to the FRA website. The authority says it will publish both “in the coming days.”

What the 2015 rules already covered: The old framework contained three core standards — Standard 1 on market value, Standard 2 on values other than market value (fair value, investment value, liquidation value, etc.), and Standard 3 on how to write a valuation report. It also had a detailed code of professional ethics covering fraud, conflict of interest, confidentiality, neutrality, and competence; the three standard valuation approaches (comparative sales, income capitalization, and cost method); four practical application annexes (valuation methodology, financial statements, financing cases, and properties under construction); and a mandatory five-year records retention period.

What the 2026 edition adds: The FRA says the update includes new chapters. For data and inputs, valuers must now base valuations on verifiable facts — field measurements and published market rates — and assess each input for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness, in addition to disclosing how they weighed trade-offs. On documentation, reports must include a mandatory set of core elements covering the methodologies, inputs, data sources, and risk management applied. On valuation models, the FRA lists it as a standalone chapter but gives no detail on what it requires, noting only that the overall framework aligns with IVS 2025.

ESG and templates are now explicit. Valuers must price environmental, social, and governance factors into the value itself. The 2015 standards did not mention ESG. The 2026 edition also includes a guidance model for valuation reports. The 2015 framework specified what reports must contain but did not supply a template.

Why it matters: Valuation is what determines net asset value — the price at which retail investors buy into real estate funds. Real estate funds’ NAV reached EGP 8.98 bn at the end of 1Q 2026, up from EGP 923.7 mn at the end of 2025. By the close of 2Q, six REIFs held around EGP 12.6 bn between them, with average yields climbing to 3.5% from 2.9%, an FRA official told us last month. More than 40 applications for new funds are sitting with the regulator. Every one of those NAVs, unit prices, and yield calculations is a valuation output.

IN CONTEXT- The rewrite lands as the FRA broadens the range of regulated real estate investment activity. The regulator has been writing clearer rules for fractional property investment and mortgage-backed structures. MNT-Halan and Azimut launched what they billed as the country’s first digital real estate investment fund, giving retail investors fractional access to properties through an app. The FRA also eased conversion rules for developers turning their companies into REIFs, replacing a 40%-of-total-assets formula with a flat EGP 500 mn net equity test. FRA Chairman Islam Azzam said more reliable valuations should make these activities more attractive to local and foreign investors.

What’s next: Publication in the Official Gazette is expected within days, per the statement. The 140-page manual will be uploaded to the FRA website at the same time. The authority has not yet said whether valuations already underway must follow the new rules or can finish under the old framework.

In other regulation news:

Professional ins. firms now have a wider auditor pool: Ins. and reins. brokers, ins. consultants, and risk assessment and loss adjustment firms may now appoint an auditor registered in section I or either subsection of section II of the FRA’s auditor register, according to a statement from the regulator. The change drops the previous requirement that their auditor be registered in the stricter section I — the tier reserved for auditors qualified to audit listed companies, banks, and insurers, with higher staffing and experience requirements. Section II auditors meet a lower entry bar and are a larger, more accessible pool. The decision takes effect the day after publication in the Official Gazette.

Why it matters: FRA Chairman Islam Azzam said the relaxation responds to practical conditions facing these firms and reduces compliance costs. The companies covered by the change — ins. brokers, reins. brokers, ins. consultants, and risk surveyors — are intermediaries and service providers, not insurers themselves, meaning the previous requirement for the highest auditor tier was unnecessarily expensive and limiting.

IN CONTEXT- The new easing follows the FRA’s July decision raising the cap on funds a single auditor can cover from three to five and carved out an auditor-rotation exception for companies going public.