The average local market house price in Guernsey has risen to an all-time high of £629,297. However, with borrowing becoming more expensive and political instability nationally and internationally, prices on the local market have already begun to stabilise.
‘The summer was still frantic and stock shortage remained an issue. But as we got to the height of the summer the feeling on the ground was that we’d seen the market peak,’ said Swoffers’ local market director Andre Austin.
‘Offers over asking price became less common, and there was a natural return to normal selling and buying patterns. Then following the ‘mini budget’ activity really slowed down, exacerbated by interest rates going up.
‘It’s not all doom and gloom, we always knew that interest rates were going to go up, it’s just cooled off. We’re hopeful we’ll see more properties come to the market as people have more breathing space to be able to view more than one property before having to make a decision.’
But in contrast, the current economic and political state has led to increased enquiries on the Open Market. Director Craig Whitman said that there were very encouraging signs with more and more people interested in moving to the island because of what’s happening in the UK and further afield.
‘It’s been quite buoyant, we think the Open Market is going to strengthen,’ said Mr Whitman.
‘We’ve got plenty of enquiries coming in. It’s mainly UK but we have had quite a lot of enquiries from British expats living in Asia, and a number have relocated.
There are many reasons why some families consider Guernsey as their choice jurisdiction. It’s not purely tax-driven, quality of life, safety and security are just a few reasons why our beautiful island is high on may potential buyers wish lists. We have recently also seen a few transactions where family members have made the move to Guernsey because there are existing family connections.
Latest figures contained in the States of Guernsey’s quarterly Residential Property Prices Bulletin show that the mix adjusted purchase price for the Local Market in July to September increased by 5.1% on the previous quarter, and was up by 13.5% on the same period of 2021.
Rents fell slightly between Q2 and Q3 (down 5%) but were 7% up on the same time last year. The average rental price in July to September was £1,726 a month.
The raw median price (reality only) of 22 Open Market transactions in the third quarter of 2022 was £1.58m. Swoffers negotiated 15 of these (68% of all sales).
