Jersey House Prices - Q2 Release 2023

Yesterday’s release of the house prices index again shows that the statistics are behind the actual market. The only statistic that appears to be of any value is the lack of transactions going through the record. The market is probably some six months ahead of where the statistics said. I would say prices and some asking prices should be off around 5 to 10% of where they previously were at the height of the market; there is activity in the market, and properties are still being placed under offer.

Vendors should look to price their homes at a reasonable level. One has to bear in mind that the rise in interest rates has affected purchasers' ability to borrow and pay the previous asking prices.

It will be crucial to look forward to the Jersey government budget under the particular what they do concerning stamp duty. The 3% stamp duty imposition on buy-to-let and second homes is anomalous in Jersey. We do not have the same situation as the UK, where say, buyers from London may buy a second home in Cornwall.

Many people have bought apartments to live in who are in essence first-time buyers. Some of these buyers, if they purchased in the past two years, may well be "underwater" in value terms. The 3% stamp duty really has affected property sales which could be sold by genuine first-time buyers of houses who have lost a pool of buyers to sell their homes to. It has also impacted the rental market, and it is seen from the statistics that rental prices have increased, and one would say that this is a direct result of rental stock being sold or placed on the market for sale in general; one gets a valuation request for a former rental property every week, and whether I am instructed or not, invariably this property comes to market as a sale property with my agency or another agency.