Plots on Plots: Visualizing a Decade of Kuwaiti Real Estate

This map illustrates the recent history of real estate prices in Kuwait. It transforms a dataset of approximately 62,000 (officially registered) residential real estate sale transactions into a visual representation that is far easier to digest. This enables you to quickly compare real estate prices between the different areas of Kuwait, across different years.

Year: 2023

Hint: Touch (or hover) the map for details.

About the data

  • The data comes from the Ministry of Justice’s Real Estate Registration Record, which you can view here. Alternatively, you can view the data on alhisba’s website (it’s faster).

  • The following filters were used to select the data, leaving us with approximately 62,000 records:

    • Size > 50 m2
    • Transaction Date > 2010-01-01
    • Transaction Type = sale
    • Sale Percentage = 100%
    • Property Type = residential (خاص)

  • No adjustment for inflation is applied; the amounts are represented as-is.

  • While all transactions in the dataset include an area field, approximately one-third lack a block field. This made it challenging to slice the map further (by block+area instead of just by area).

  • The color scale’s maximum is clamped to allow for a more useful visualization. This prevents outliers from rendering the color scale useless (eg. Surra 2013).

  • The dataset was cleaned on a best-effort basis. Some numerical fields (such as size and sale percentage) are represented as strings in the original dataset and therefore require parsing. Regex, logical limits, and eyeballs were used to complete the task.

  • Remote areas are intentionally left out. Examples include, among others, Al Khiran, Al Wafrah, and Failaka. A handful of other areas are also left out either because of missing geojson (geographic coordinate info required for drawing) or because the original record does not list a specific area. A list of excluded areas can be found in the console logs.

About the author

Data visualization is one of my favorite topics and this little project is an excuse to try out a shiny new charting library I’ve been eyeing for a while. Hi, my name is Naser and I enjoy developing interactive experiences like this one. Do you need help building an awesome experience? Let’s talk!

Updates

  • 2023-12-14: Applied additional filter: Property Type = residential (خاص)