Property prices fall in Jersey but rise substantially on Guernsey as channel islands

On Jersey property prices have dropped by 5% in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, the latest figures from the Jersey House Price Index shows.
 
The average price of a home in the Island is now £473,000, a drop from £507,000 for the same period last year. Some types of real estate suffered more than others, the figures also show. Two bedroom flats and four bedroom houses fell by 10% compared to the 2009 average. One bedroom flats saw the smallest drop at 3%.
 
It is the first time property prices have fallen since 1993 and comes after a 2% rise in prices in 2009.
 
‘We’ve seen a weak labour market; we’ve seen the economic downturn. The Jersey housing market over the decades has been incredibly resilient certainly compared to other jurisdictions. Over the last twenty five years we’ve only seen one year when Jersey house prices overall on average fell and that was in 1993 when house prices fell by less than 1%,’ said Duncan Gibaut from Jersey Statistics Unit.
 
In contrast property rents on Jersey have increased and are 3% higher than the average for all of 2009, the report also shows. Rents for apartments were stable, rising less than 1% but house rents soared 6%.
 
But on Guernsey the latest figures show that property prices are soaring. For the first quarter of 2010, the median average local market residential property price was £364,088, an annual increase of 25.9% and a quarterly increase of 10.2%.
 
But the report points out that the figures look better due to the smaller volume of sales completed in the first quarter of 2009.  ‘There are fluctuations in prices from quarter to quarter as the profile of properties sold during any one quarter differs. There are also seasonal fluctuations, however, these can be smoothed out using a moving average,’ the report says.
 
But the moving average for houses is still substantially up, it increased by 2.9% to £387,375 over the quarter and by 2.0% over the year. The average house price in the open market is now £863 500.