The average paid for a property in Jersey fell last year for the first time since 2013, and by the largest amount in at least 38 years.

Overall, the Jersey House Price Index was down 3% on 2022, £661,000.

It is a measure of the combined average price of 1- and 2-bedroom flats together with 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom houses.

Taking away the impact of transactions of new developments, the actual fall in the Jersey House Price Index in 2023 would have been 5%.

39% of purchases across the 12 months were new-builds.  Without them, turnover, that is the number of homes changing hands - would have been down almost 60% on the year before.

2023 saw the lowest annual turnover seen since at least 2002, with sales of three and four bedroom homes particularly affected.

Overall, the average paid for a property in the last three months of 2023 was £636,000. That compares with £286,000 in the UK and £511,000 in London.

Mean prices by size in Q4 2023 compared with the previous quarter:

• 1 bedroom flat  - £337,000, down £25,000
• 2 bedroom flat  - £598,000, up £40,000
• 2 bedroom house - £605,000, down £1,000
• 3 bedroom house  - £806,000, down £36,000
• 4 bedroom house  - £1,133,000, down £271,000

On an annual basis, affordability worsened, with all property types less affordable than in 2022 because of the impact of higher mortgage interest rates.

The Bank of England Base Rate remains at a fifteen year high of 5.25%.

Statistics Jersey's data shows a working household with a mean net income could not afford a mortgage on anything bigger than the average-priced one bedroom flat.