Property sales highest since financial crash

However, property sales for the year so far are just eight above the same period last year.

The latest quarterly figures for between July and September show that 257 local market houses and flats were sold – the highest since the fourth quarter of 2007, when 287 properties were sold.

That brings the total number of properties sold this year to 598 – eight more than the same time last year.

The median price for houses has remained stable at £444,600.

That is a slight increase from £435,100 for the same time last year.

With flats, the median price for the 112 sold during the first nine months of the year is £236,031, down from £244,150 last year.

Head of Carey Olsen’s property group, Jason Morgan, said the quarter had gone well, but the yearly figures were not so positive. ‘While the quarterly activity in the local market is the highest we have seen since 2007, we are still some way short of the pre-financial crisis period before 2008 for the year as a whole,’ he said.

‘We should also bear in mind that the quarter before this one was itself 10% down on the second quarter of last year, so there is still some way to go before we can say with confidence that this is the beginning of an upward trend.’

Swoffers director Spencer Noyon said they had seen increased activity in the market over the spring and summer.

‘This trend is continuing apace and we have an unprecedented number of local market properties under offer at the moment and have seen our stock levels start to diminish significantly as a consequence,’ he said.

‘The most active area remains sub £550,000, although there have also be a few higher-priced sales going through in the third quarter, as is traditionally the case at this time of year.’

In the open market, there have been 49 transactions so far this year, compared with 27 for the same time last year.

Of these, 47 were houses, with a median value of £1,072,500.

Advocate Morgan added: ‘Continued interest in the open market is both encouraging and reassuring and shows that Guernsey is proving very attractive to new residents.’

Swoffers open market director Craig Whitman said that enquiry levels within the open market had increased substantially over the last two quarters.

‘We are seeing a steady stream of interest of potential buyers considering Guernsey as a destination of choice.

'That is a real positive change in activity fuelled by uncertainty in the UK.’

Local market house prices have risen dramatically over the last 15 years. In 2003 they were about £250,000.

Average property prices prices topped £400,000 in 2010.