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There has been a significant drop in the number of Local Market transactions in Guernsey and people in the island, who are prepared to buy, are still struggling to find a property.
"It appears to remain the case that while plenty of people are still looking to move home, there are as many others who, having only recently purchased, are not looking to sell,” said the Head of Carey Olsen’s property group in Guernsey, Jason Morgan.
“This in turn has impacted the number of properties available to purchase and could explain why we continue to see the average price of Local Market properties increase, as those who are looking to buy are, in many cases, having to offer over the initial asking price to ward off competing bidders."
Activity on the housing market has steadily been dropping since early last year, with 306 transactions in Q2, 296 in Q3, 245 in Q4 and 208 during the first quarter of 2022.
Pictured: The median price for the 208 Local Market sales in Q1/2022 is £643,500.
This gearshift comes as no surprise to those who have been trying to move or buy for the first time.
Sophie Walden says she has been looking to buy for the past two years: “Compared to a lot of people I’m in quite a privileged position: I live at home, I can save money, I’ve got a good job, I got a promotion in the last year which helps towards saving money. I’m looking at a 75 to 85% loan to value [mortgage]…
“But from my perspective there are just no houses. You get maybe one or two a month that are worth looking at. Then when you go you’re one of [roughly twenty people] that are coming in the first day.”
And Sophie says if you don’t get in on the first day, you don’t get to see it.
“It’s difficult because you can save money, you can have the good job, you can be ready to buy a house - which is better off that some people - but there just aren’t any houses.”
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