How we measure

How we make every number, and what we don't know yet

The Index is a reference, not an advert. So here we write what we read, how we count, and what we hold back until we've checked it. Every rule here is the one the current edition applies.

What we read, and when

We read every public short-term rental listing that appears in search in Cairo and Giza, not a sample, and count a listing as live when its page opens.

The monthly edition is published on the 5th of every month, with a full census, prices and each area's state. The market pulse comes out every Thursday with six totals.

We also read a fixed set of listings' calendars every night, to see which nights closed: a booking or a host block.

What each word means

Live listing: Its page opens in search at census time.
Bookable: At least one open night in the next 90 days.
Active in the market: Bookable and reviewed by a guest within 12 months, or with nights likely booked on its calendar. Only about half of guests write a review, so this is a floor.
Recently active: A guest review within 90 days.
Busy: 6 or more reviews a year.
New: No review yet, or a first review within 12 months. From December we split it into four kinds: truly new, came back, missed before, and relisted.
Price: The asking price for 2 nights for 2 guests about 14 days ahead, before fees. Not a price anyone paid.
Closed night: A night no longer open on the calendar: a booking or a host block, which we can't tell apart from outside.
Demand: New stays per 100 listings read in a week, from nightly calendars. An estimate, starting after 28 nights of reading.

The three marks

Beside every number, a mark says how we know it, always with the period and how many listings it rests on.

● ObservedSeen on public pages: listing counts, ratings, reviews.
◐ ComputedWorked out from what we observe by a published rule: the active share, price bands, the index.
○ EstimatedA signal not yet checked against real bookings: booking-like closures, demand.

Each area's signal

The signal sums up a buyer's question: is demand here proven, or is new supply running ahead of guests?

Demand proven44% or more of the area's listings are active in the market.
Supply aheadUnder 35% active, and 73% or more of the listings are new.
In betweenEverything in between.

A signal describes the month; it isn't advice to buy or sell.

What we hold back before publishing

No number from fewer than 30 listings, and no page for an area below that.
No area where one host holds more than 50% of its listings.
Area positions on the map are moved by up to 140 metres, and no single unit is shown.
A size's price needs at least 20 priced active units; otherwise it comes from the nearest wider case and we say so.
No occupancy or income until we can compare them with real bookings, and then as ranges with a margin of error.

What we never publish

Hosts' names or photos.
Listing links, numbers or addresses.
Listing photos or review texts.
Any guest's or reviewer's data.

The current edition

Every number on these pages comes from this edition unless it says otherwise.

Corrections log

When we get a published number wrong, we correct it here with the date, and the number before and after.

No corrections published in this edition.