Property market bounce back a surprise to mortgage broker
GUERNSEY’S property market has bounced back to pre-lockdown levels, with some properties even selling for more than their asking price.
Local estate agents started operating again under strict guidelines in April. Despite the restrictions, May has proved to be a good month, with 35 local houses, 16 local flats and six open market properties being sold.
The total value for last month at £40m. was equal to sales in May 2019, although down in number from 115 to 84.
However, the loss of deals in March and April has resulted in total sales for the year to date being down £31m. at about £185m., according to figures compiled by Unusualities of Guernsey.
SPF managing director Pierre Blampied said he was pleased the housing market was recovering and noted that a lack of supply had resulted in a number of properties actually selling for over their asking price. However, some mortgage lenders have changed their criteria for lending.
‘It has been somewhat surprising and pleasing that the market is so very busy at the moment,’ he said.
‘If I had been asked to predict what would happen, I would not have predicted this.’
He said that it seemed that during lockdown people had been looking at their situation and wanting to move up the ladder where they could. He noted that lenders were still lending, although one had reduced their maximum loan to value to 80%.
One challenge has been that if islanders had been furloughed they would not be getting their normal salary, so a mortgage application would be put on hold.
Mr Blampied said he was hopeful that the housing market would remain stable now.
‘I think my view is that as we don’t see a number of redundancies, the market will remain active,’ he said.
‘Clearly it is not good news when you see Specsavers’ jobs at risk. If we see a number of these, it will give us concerns. But what we are seeing at the moment is not a lot of redundancies in financial services.’
Cooper Brouard director Matt Brouard said buyers had been interested in a wide range of properties and this had been translating into sales.
‘We feel the market is pretty much where it was before we went into lockdown,’ he said.
Mawson Collins director Mike Collins said the sales and lettings markets were both very busy.
‘It’s a job to keep up,’ he said.
He said one trend he was predicting was that buyers would be looking for a property with a spare bedroom or study, that could be used as a home office if the island went back into lockdown.
