Statistics on house prices - Quarter 1 2023 (FOI)

Request

Recently the States of Jersey Statistics Department advised that House prices had dropped on average at around 2% during the 1st Quarter of 2023, however a local Estate Agent on the radio not long afterwards believed the figure was more like 20%, due to so many asking prices across all sorts of property being dropped across the board. 

Please advise how such a difference of opinion has occurred and whether the Government of Jersey Statistics Department actually liaises with Estate Agents to get a more realistic picture on these issues.

Response 

The request appears to ask for an assessment of an opinion of a local Estate agent. 

The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 gives a right to request information that is held in recorded form, unless exempt. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 therefore applies. 

For information, full details of the Jersey House Price Index, including the methodology for compilation, have been published on www.gov.je and can be accessed via the link below:

House price statistics (gov.je)

It is worth noting that the House Price Index records the prices of completed sales that take place in each quarter. It does not therefore reflect transactions that have not taken place, including changes to asking prices that have not resulted in a completed sale. Any such reductions in asking price will show in the House Price Index when an actual sale is transacted.

Statistics Jersey regularly liaises with estate agents and other industry professionals on the published statistics and market trends.

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.