In isolation, this is not good news
NEWS of a slight drop in house prices will be welcomed by many in this community, but nobody will be hoodwinked that these figures – a new local market average of £600,000, yes, the average is £600,000 – will mean anything better for them in the long term, apart from a pause in what seemed to be unstoppable rises seen since Covid.
The news won’t bother householders – there’s no prospect of negative equity heading our way – but frankly it won’t do much for those aspiring to get into the property market.
The return to the usual ebb and flow of the housing market brings very limited hope to islanders, particularly those already in the rental market who are still seeing rents rising, as evidenced in the latest States report.
Rents increased by 4.8% across the quarter but, it is noted, that rise was below inflation for the period.
It’s probably more relevant to note that after a five-year period where rents were flat, various pressures on the market, not least the noted influx in people moving to the island, keep pushing this sector up, and the contrast over the past five years and the period from 2013-18 is stark.
States initiatives for the market, to enable islanders to be housed properly and fairly, which are being developed by various committees – including reports, assessments, and land-banking for development, let alone actual building – just can’t come quickly enough.
And the States knows it.