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Property prices continue to drop while rents rise

Property prices have continued to fall in the latest quarter, although sales of houses and flats remain buoyant.

Average property prices have been going down from a peak of nearly £630,000 in the autumn of 2023.
Average property prices have been going down from a peak of nearly £630,000 in the autumn of 2023. / Guernsey Press

The average property sale price for the first three months of the year was £580,412 – nearly 4% lower than at the end of last year and 3% lower than the first quarter of 2024.

Average property prices have been going down from a peak of nearly £630,000 in the autumn of 2023, with house prices falling for five out of the last six quarters.

Savills Guernsey head of residential sales Stuart Leslie said the market since the start of the year had been a rather mixed bag.

‘The number of sales agreed is up on the previous two years and is at a level that we would expect when compared to the historic data,’ he said.

‘However, average values appear to have dipped. It’s rare that we see such an obvious downward trend in prices. Buyers have been a little more cautious with their budgets, but it’s also reflective of the type of properties that sold in the early part of this year.’

He said that demand had been strong for one and two-bedroom apartments, and smaller houses, typically towards the lower end of the market.

There were 166 local market transactions during the first quarter of 2025 – 22 fewer than the previous quarter, but 73 more than the first quarter of 2024.

It is taking longer for people to sell houses, with it taking about eight months from going on the market to selling in the first quarter of 2025.

This compares to six months in the first quarter of 2024.

Mr Leslie said buyers had high expectations.

‘We’re expecting to see the continuation of a needs-based market through the rest of the spring and into summer, where committed buyers come to the fore and demand for “best in class” remains most resilient,’ he said.

‘Interest rates are also likely to continue to fall and mortgage markets will become more competitive, which should gradually bring more buyers into the market and underpin prices over the medium term.’

The difference between the maximum advertised prices compared with the final sale prices was 8.7% in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 8.8% a year previously and 6.6% in the first quarter of 2020.

About 5% of sales were of properties built in the last 12 months.

Rents continue to rise

Rents have continued to rise in the latest quarter. The average rent for a local market property was £2,068 per calendar month in the first quarter of 2025, 1.5% higher than the previous quarter, 8.2% higher than the first quarter of 2024 and 51.7% higher than five years previously.

Rents vary from a typical £1,500 for a one-bed flat to more than £3,000 for a four-bed house.

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