Confidence despite 16% drop in Q1 property sales

But an estate agent said that this was just one element, and the poor start to the year was giving some cause for concern and suggested that the market was flat.

Figures from the Residential Property Prices Bulletin for the first quarter of the year showed a drop in local market sales of 16% compared to the first three months of 2017 – there were 140 local market transactions, which was a drop of 23 even though last year the average house price over the period was 5.8% higher.

Skipton International’s director of lending Nigel Pascoe said that the results followed two strong quarters of growth, which had led some property experts to believe that the market had finally turned a corner.

‘These results are disappointing, especially because we still feel there is a positive outlook for Guernsey property,’ he said.

He added that it was important not to view the quarter as a reflection of the market but to look at the bigger picture, which was one of growth.

Meanwhile, new mortgage products had increased availability and should stimulate demand.

‘We remain confident that the market is still in a robust position and would anticipate that the House Price Index will rise as the year continues,’ said Mr Pascoe.

Martel Maides’ director Keith Enevoldsen said that the start of 2017 was unusual and there was a bit of a ‘hangover’ of properties from the previous year.

‘I think a lot of vendors had waited for the market and hung on a bit,’ he said, ‘so there was a lot on the market, and not a lot of people looking.’

But despite this, he said that this year had got off to a slow start.

‘There’s less property available. I think it’s started off slower this year than anybody in the industry expected.’

He attributed this to a combination of a lack of confidence in the island.

‘Brexit has probably impacted, too. There was only one property that sold over a million and that’s pretty unusual.

‘But the concern from our point of view is the lack of activity. To a large extent we are in a “sit tight” situation.’

Swoffers’ director Andre Austin did not agree that the weather had played a part, although he said things had been ‘a bit sluggish’.

‘What these figures do show was a drop of 5.8% in property prices,’ he said.

‘The vast majority of properties we have under offer are under £500,000.

‘But I have to say we are phenomenally busy.’

He said it would be interesting to see what happened in the second quarter.

‘It’s still very much a buyers’ market, but we are not crying ourselves to sleep.’