House prices in Jersey have recorded their biggest calendar-year fall in almost forty years.

The average sum paid for a property here in 2024 was 8% lower than at the previous 12 months, at £589,000.

This follows on from data from the autumn (for Q3) which showed the biggest year-on-year decrease in 20 years.

All property types were cheaper in 2024, according to the latest House Price Index.

Last year saw the fewest transactions since at least 2002.

However, the values of one and two bedroom flats rose in the last quarter of the year, and the prices of three bedroom homes were largely unchanged.

Turnover also improved in the last quarter of 2024, up 9% on the summer.

2023 had been a busy year for the sale of new-builds.  The effect of that means turnover is down 16% year-on-year, but statisticians say it would be 25% higher if you exclude the sale of new developments from both sets of figures.

The government's First Step Scheme  - which contributes up to 40% of the purchase price of a property for eligible first-time buyers - came in in February 2024, with the first resulting transactions going through court in the second half of last year.

33 properties (around 5% of annual turnover) were sold as part of the scheme, and a further nine indirect transactions came from 'onward chain' properties.

Mean prices by size in Q4 2025 compared with the previous quarter:

• 1 bedroom flat  - £337,000, up £31,000
• 2 bedroom flat  - £550,000, up £43,000
• 2 bedroom house - £595,000, up £23,000
• 3 bedroom house  - £752,000, up £3,000
• 4 bedroom house  - £1,031,000, down £96,000.