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Transactions for houses fell to their lowest level since at least 2002 in the first quarter of this year – and around one in three of the properties that were sold were buy-to-lets or second homes.
Released today by Statistics Jersey, the latest House Price Index showed that 251 properties were sold between January and March this year – 26% less than the same point the year before.
However, the report noted that 45% of these transactions were properties from new developments "sold off-plan several years ago at prices that are now below the current market value", impacting average turnover and price levels.
If the new developments were excluded from analysis, the number of properties sold in the last quarter would be 55% lower than in the first quarter of 2021.
The report also showed that just under half of the 183 flats sold were either buy-to-lets, second homes or holiday homes.
Pictured: Turnover, 'not main residence' and first-time buyer proportions of sales.
Across all property types, 36% sold were not the purchaser's main residence.
Harry Trower, Director at Broadlands Estate Agents, said that the latest figures were not a surprise, going on to explain: "It's 100% an affordability issue. Mortgages are so much more expensive than they were even a year ago."
He added: "Something has to give. Either no one buys, and we sit here in purgatory, or prices need to come down."
In Guernsey, the average price for a local market house dropped by 4% in the past year to around £613,942.
Pictured: Following a long period of price rises, the mix adjusted average purchase price of a local market property in Guernsey dropped slightly.
Despite the slight drop, prices were still 7.1% higher than they were during the first three months of last year, and 50.7% higher than they were five years ago.
Read the full report here and our summary of the last quarter's house price stats here.
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