Sales activity in the Guernsey Local and Open Markets rebounded in the second quarter of this year following the slow start to 2021 as a result of the island's second lockdown, according to the latest conveyancing statistics compiled by Unusualities of Guernsey, an independent compiler of local conveyancing statistics.
Figures reveal that there were a total of 306 Local Market transactions during the second quarter of this year, comprising 236 houses and 70 flats – nearing quarterly highs of Q4 and Q3 last year when 362 and 318 sales took place respectively.
It means for the six months to the end of June 2021 there have been 480 Local Market transactions, with the median price (realty only) for the 376 houses sold so far this year currently standing at £536,250, up from £498,625 for the same period last year. The median price (realty only) of the 104 Local Market flats sold in the first six months of 2021 is £294,938, up from the £248,625 recorded for the first half of last year.
It is a similar positive story for the Guernsey Open Market, where the 37 transactions recorded by Unusualities of Guernsey for the second quarter is only bettered, in recent years, by the fourth quarter of 2020 (43).
In total, there have now been 57 Open Market transactions so far in 2021, with the median price (realty only) of the 50 Open Market houses sold in the first six months of 2021, currently standing at £1,361,250, which is down from the £1,742,813 for the same period last year. The seven Open Market flats sold in 2021, have a median price (realty only) of £1,534,535.
Jason Morgan, head of Carey Olsen's property group in Guernsey, said: "There remains plenty of demand for both the Local and Open Markets, and we continue to see properties selling for, or even above, their full asking price. For the Open Market, it will be particularly interesting to monitor the level of interest we are seeing there, after what was already a record-breaking 2020. Guernsey, notwithstanding the pandemic and perhaps in some ways because of it, has never been a more attractive place to live or relocate to."
*None of the total sales numbers quoted include inter-family or inter-company sales, transactions which are typically completed for a nominal consideration.
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