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How property valuation works

What a valuer does, how a value is worked out, and how circle rates and bank valuations work in the North. Updated 18 October 2026.

The short answer: one property, three values

What a valuer does

A valuer is usually a civil engineer or architect with experience in valuing land and buildings. When you take a home loan, the bank sends one from its own panel. The valuer works for the bank, not for you or the seller, so a valuation the seller hands you won't count.

On the visit

• Finds the property and checks its boundaries against the papers and the map (for land, the khasra and the shajra).
• Measures the plot and the built-up area, and counts floors and rooms.
• Compares what's built with the approved building plan. Extra floors or rooms that aren't in the plan are usually left out of the value.
• Notes the age, the quality of construction, its condition, and repairs needed.
• Looks at the surroundings: road width and access, water, power, drainage, nearby markets, schools and hospitals, and any flood or landslide risk.
• Takes photos, and often the GPS location, for the report.

The report

• Who owns it according to the papers seen, and the property's boundaries and area.
• The circle rate for the area, and recent sale prices of similar properties nearby.
• The method used, and the land and building values worked out separately.
• The fair market value, the realisable value and the distress value. ¹⁶
• Anything that worries the valuer: deviations from the plan, encroachments, a disputed boundary.

Who can be a valuer

• Registered valuers are registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). That registration is required for valuations under the Companies Act and the insolvency law. It doesn't automatically apply to other laws, such as bank lending or income tax. ¹²
• Bank panel valuers are chosen by each bank under its own rules: qualifications, experience and recent work. Some banks let valuers without IBBI or wealth-tax registration value properties only for loans up to ₹2 crore. ^13,14
• Government valuers, in the PWD or the Income Tax department, value property for government purposes, such as a tax dispute.

The bank charges a valuation fee, often as part of the processing fee. It should be in the bank's Key Facts Statement; ask before you apply. You can also hire your own valuer before you agree a price.

How a value is worked out

1. Comparing sales (the main method for flats and plots). The valuer looks at prices of similar properties sold nearby recently, and adjusts for differences: size, road, floor, age, condition. Registered sale prices count for more than asking prices. ^15,16
2. Land and building (common for independent houses). The land is valued on its own, by area times a rate per marla, kanal or square yard. The building is valued at what it would cost to build today, less a deduction for its age and condition. The two are added up. ¹⁵
3. Rent (for shops, offices and rented property). The value comes from the rent the property earns.
4. Development (for land with building potential). The value of what could be built, less the cost of building it.

Things that move the value most:

• Location and access: a wide road and a good frontage add a lot; a narrow lane or no proper road takes a lot away.
• Approvals: an approved plan, a completion certificate, and for land, the right land use.
• Clean papers: an unclear title or a pending mutation can stop a bank from valuing the property at all.
• Shape and size: an odd-shaped or very small plot is worth less per marla than a regular one.

Why circle rates matter to you

• Stamp duty: you pay stamp duty on the price on the deed or the circle rate value, whichever is higher. ¹⁵
• Tax for the seller: if the price on the deed is more than 10% below the circle rate value, the seller's capital gains are worked out on the circle rate value instead. The buyer can also be taxed on the difference. Either can ask for the case to go to a government valuer. Ask a CA. ¹⁷
• Never under-state the price. Showing a lower price on the deed to save stamp duty, and paying the rest in cash, is illegal. It also means a smaller loan and trouble when you sell.

Region by region

Jammu & Kashmir

• Who sets the rates: each district has its own list. A district valuation committee under the Deputy Commissioner proposes the rates, a divisional committee approves them, and the District Collector notifies them. ^2,3
• When: the lists run by calendar year, from 1 January. Jammu's 2025 rates came into effect on 1 January 2025, and its list for 2026 is posted too. ^1,2
• Where to find them: on the district's website, usually under “Stamp duty rates” or “Documents”. For example Jammu, Udhampur, Srinagar and Budgam. Look up your tehsil and village or mohalla. ^1,4,5,6
• Units: land rates are often given per kanal or per marla. Our land units converter turns these into square feet.
• For the bank's valuer: a fresh fard, the latest mutation, and an approved plan for a house. Agricultural land has special rules on who may buy it, so banks generally won't give a home loan on it. See our J&K buyer's checklist.

Chandigarh

• Who sets the rates: the UT Administration revises the collector rates, from 1 April. The 2025 rates group the sectors (for example Sectors 1–12, 14–37, and 38 onwards) and give a rate per square yard for residential plots, with separate rates per square foot for Housing Board flats, by floor. Check the current list before you rely on any figure. ⁷
• Leasehold or freehold: the valuer and the bank will want to know which, and leasehold property needs the Estate Office's permission to transfer. ⁹ Our land records guide explains Chandigarh's Estate Office papers.
• Share or floor of a house: in Phase I (Sectors 1 to 30), the Supreme Court has barred splitting a house into floor-wise apartments. If you're offered a share or a floor of a house there, ask the bank whether it will lend before you agree anything. ⁸

Punjab and Haryana

• Collector rates are set district by district, often by tehsil and by area. In Haryana they are loaded into the HALRIS registration system, and new rates have sometimes taken months to reach every tehsil. ¹⁰
• Ask the Sub-Registrar's or Tehsil office for the current rate for your property.
• In and around Mohali, Panchkula and Gurugram, check whether a plot is in an approved colony or sector. Banks often won't lend in unauthorised colonies.

Himachal Pradesh

• Circle rates are revised by the Collector, on the recommendation of the Sub-Divisional Magistrates. In some places they haven't kept up with market prices. ¹¹
• On a hill site, the valuer also looks at slope, access in winter, and landslide risk. Land in Himachal can't go to a non-agriculturist without State permission, which also affects a bank's view. See our land records guide.

Ladakh

• Ask the Deputy Commissioner's office or the Sub-Registrar in Leh or Kargil for the current rates.
• Few sales and few lenders mean valuations can vary a lot. Get the bank's view early.

If the bank's valuation comes in low

1. Ask the bank for the value and the reasons: a deviation from the plan, a smaller measured area, a missing paper.
2. Fix what you can. A missing completion certificate or a pending mutation can often be sorted out.
3. Show the bank recent registered sale deeds of similar property nearby. Some banks will order a second valuation.
4. Renegotiate the price with the seller, using the bank's figure.
5. Or plan to pay the gap yourself. Use our loan calculator to see what that means.

Red flags

• The seller wants a much lower price on the deed, with the rest in cash.
• Several banks refuse to value or lend on the property.
• A “valuer” offers to raise the value for a fee.
• The valuation is much higher than recent registered sales nearby.
• The built area is much bigger than the approved plan.

What Clayyard does, and what it doesn't

Clayyard isn't a valuer and doesn't value property. Prices on Clayyard are set by the agent, the owner or the builder. Ask the bank's valuer, or hire your own, before you agree a price.

Sources

1. District Jammu: Stamp duty rates (yearly lists)
2. District Magistrate Jammu: stamp duty rates for 2025 notified after Divisional Level Committee approval
3. The Tribune: Jammu DC reviews proposed stamp duty rates for 2025
4. District Udhampur: Notified stamp duty rates 2025
5. District Srinagar: Documents (market value and stamp duty rates)
6. District Budgam: Stamp rates
7. The Voice of Chandigarh: New collector rates from 1 April 2025
8. The Tribune: Supreme Court bars floor-wise division of houses in Chandigarh's Phase I (2023)
9. 1acre: Leasehold and freehold property in Chandigarh
10. The Tribune: 83 Haryana tehsils yet to put new collector rates in place
11. The Tribune: Himachal circle rates not revised
12. IBBI: FAQs on registered valuers and valuation examinations
13. SBI: Eligibility criteria for empanelment of valuers
14. UCO Bank: Eligibility criteria for empanelment of valuers (2024–26)
15. Housing.com: How is property valuation done in India?
16. Square Yards: Property valuation methods and bank valuation
17. Taxguru: Section 50C of the Income-tax Act (stamp duty value and capital gains)
18. RBI: Individual housing loans, risk weights and LTV ratios (2015)

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