Small drop in housing prices in first part of this year

Monday 26 April 2021

A small drop in housing prices led to a drop in the overall inflation rate in the first quarter of the year according to figures released by Statistics Jersey.

The Retail Price Index – which measures the annual rate at which prices are increasing – increased by 0.8% during the 12 months to March 2021.

In the 12 months to December 2020, the RPI had increased by 0.9%.

According to the Jersey Retail Prices Index, recently released by Statistics Jersey, the slight drop was due to “an overall slight decrease” in housing prices.

Meanwhile, prices for food and alcohol increased in the first quarter but less than they had previously.

Pictured: Food and alcohol prices increased.

In the year ending March 2021, tobacco saw the highest price increase (4.2%), followed by catering (3.3%) and leisure goods (2.8%). 

Meanwhile, clothing and footwear saw the largest reduction (-7.2%). 

Over the 12 months to March 2021, RPI(X), which includes all items RPI except the cost of mortgage interest payments, and RPI(Y), which measures underlying inflation by removing the effect not only of mortgage interest payments but also of indirect taxes such as GST and impôts, both increased by 1.1%.

In the same period, pensioners faced price increases of 1.2%,while low income households saw their costs increase by 1.4% on average.

Read the full report HERE.