In total there were 124 Local Market transactions completed between January and March this year – a 40% drop when compared to the 208 transactions in the first three months of 2022. Of those transactions, 97 were Local Market house sales with a median price of £619,125, compared to £643,500 for the same period in 2022. The median price of the 27 Local Market flats sold in the last quarter meanwhile was £382,688, an increase on the £326,625 recorded in the first quarter of 2022.

In the Open Market there have been 14 sales recorded so far this year – a 48% drop when compared to the 27 Open Market transactions in the same period of 2022. Of these sales, the median price for the 11 Open Market houses sold was around £2.4m – up from around £1.2m in 2022. The three Open Market flats sold so far this year attracted a median price of £897,000, lower than the £1.4m achieved in 2022 (from just one sale).

Stuart Leslie, head of residential sales at Savills Guernsey, said: “It always takes a while for the housing market to warm up at the start of the year, but clearly there is a little more caution than normal. Historically Guernsey has been somewhat insulated from any wider political or financial uncertainty – but it is not wholly immune from outside pressures. The rise in the cost of living and increased mortgage rates has meant that buyers have had to reduce their budgets, while vendors who haven’t needed to sell immediately have decided to sit tight until the spring.

“It’s also important to put the activity of the last few months into context – it’s coming off the back of a very busy two or three year period, both in terms of the number of transactions and price rises, which was always going to be impossible to sustain. 

“Activity is currently more needs based than it was previously – people having to relocate for work or family reasons for example. And – while demand is stronger than we anticipated – buyers do not feel the same urgency that they felt last year or the year before, and are happy to bide their time to find the right home at the right price. Consequently, realistic pricing is key to maintaining market momentum.

“We do expect things to start picking up as we head into the rest of April, May and June. Demand remains robust and we’re not forecasting a substantial drop in house prices - they still remain higher than two years ago. The lifestyle on offer in Guernsey remains a significant draw for the Open Market – and there continues to be a core number of committed buyers who are willing to make a move regardless of the market conditions on the Local Market. Long term we still think Guernsey will outperform the UK prime market over the next five years.”