A lack of housing stock continued to be an issue during the final quarter of 2022, resulting in house prices being maintained.
The Guernsey Residential Property Market Bulletin for Q4 2022 shows the mix adjusted average purchase price for the local market from September to December was £638,267 – up 1.4% on the previous quarter. Compared with the same period in 2021, prices were up 15.9%, with a 51.6% increase on the same period in 2017.
Local Market director Andre Austin said Liz Truss’ mini budget in September 2022 had an impact on sales.
‘Trussonomics did halt the market for a couple of weeks, but the market here has always been resilient, and it just took a bit of time for people to see the dust settle and get used to new interest rates. However, there were some people who did indeed see their affordability change,’ said Mr Austin, who added that the statistics included several completions from sales agreed in Q3.
‘We will get a better indication of how the market is performing in first two quarters of 2023. It was quite a slow start this year, but we are very busy at the moment on the local market and stock levels appear to be improving.’
There were 181 Local Market transactions during the fourth quarter of 2022, 53 fewer than the previous quarter, 54 fewer than the same quarter of 2021 and five fewer than the fourth quarter of 2017.
The mix adjusted average rental price for Local Market properties was £1,725 per calendar month in the fourth quarter of 2022, the same as the previous quarter, 4.5% higher than the fourth quarter of 2021, and 35.7% higher than five years previously.
‘December saw the stealth introduction of additional document duty (2%) on people buying second properties. The rental market remains heated, and prices have not dropped. We feel long-term this strategy could be counter productive; the market needs landlords and with no buy-to-let investors, this will put more pressure on stock and rental prices will remain high,’ said Mr Austin.
The raw median price (realty only) of the 28 Open Market transactions in the fourth quarter of 2022 was £1,755,000, compared with £1,584,375 in the fourth quarter of 2021.
‘It was a solid finish to a great year for Swoffers, a year in which we sold 57% of the market. We are really optimistic for this year, with political uncertainty in the UK it looks like an opportune time for new residents to come to the island.’
