‘House prices are a fair reflection of where we live’
LOCAL estate agents have said that the rapidly rising house prices are fair and a reflection on the draws of living in the Bailiwick, as the latest housing report shows average costs to be 16 times the average income.
According to the States, at the end of the first quarter the standard cost of a house on the local market was just under £614,000, more than double the UK’s average figure of £286,000.
The comments follow the publication of Environment & Infrastructure’s housing action plan, which found that housing in Guernsey was less affordable than anywhere else in western Europe.
Cranfords managing director Dominic Bacon said this was no surprise and was completely fair, relatively speaking.
‘A house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it and people have realised that Guernsey is a wonderful place to live but just that there are limited houses,’ he said.
‘Ultimately though the recent spike boils down to Covid, there were two years of people that were looking to move and also an abundance of properties going on the market with people waiting to leave the island. A lot of people re-evaluated what they needed and wanted in a house.’
Since 2009 house prices have nearly doubled, while earnings have only increased by less than a third.
It leaves Guernsey’s median price to income ratio for property purchase at 16.3 which makes the island the joint most unaffordable place to live in western Europe.
Swoffers director Spencer Noyon also said this was not unexpected.
‘It’s just a simple case of supply and demand at the end of the day. We live on a fantastic island with a very limited supply of land so its just a reflection of that,’ he said.
He added that now the post-Covid boom was nearing an end, the gap between house prices and income could close.
‘As we speak we are seeing a softening in prices. There’s no quick fix to the problem but something that would really help is targeted assistance for first-time buyers.’
