Abstract
The paper deals with the introductory analysis of the real estate market of a suburban commune located near a big (voivodeship capital) city. The analysis is based mainly of the cartographic method of research. Besides data mining and preparation, maps play an important role here, presenting values acquired directly from the register of notarial deeds of estate sales and purchases, as well as values resulting from statistic computation, for example mean values of area or price, absolute numbers of transactions or real estate type. The spatial factor is also taken into consideration when it comes to more complex or specific analyses. The influence of distance understood as a metric and time factor, as well as regression analysis results are also visualized on maps. Such presentation is a good step towards advanced analyses providing maps are prepared according to the rules of cartography. The paper stresses that a map can be a great tool in aiding every stage of research, but may also cause misinterpretations and false conclusions when at least basic rules are not complied with.