Guernsey House Prices Up and Volumes Broadly Stable Over the Year, Reports Skipton International

LONDON, ENGLAND, May 18, 2011 (Press-News.org) On the historic measure of Guernsey property prices the average price eased back slightly from their position at the end of December 2010, but compared to their position 12 months ago at the end of March 2010 prices now stand some GBP6500 or approximately 3% higher at GBP370,500, according to data released this month by the Guernsey States.

Going forward, The States have announced a change in the method of calculating average prices which will in future will be known as "mix adjusted" and include fixtures and fittings sold with a property. At the same time, the basic method of calculating the average property price has been amended to reflect more accurately the mix of housing sold. The net effect of these two changes has been to increase the new mix adjusted price description by a little over 10%. Using this new measure, average prices at the end of Quarter 1 stood at GBP424,714, up around GBP13,500 or 5.7% on their position at the end of 2010, using the new methodology.

Local market transaction volumes declined slightly from their position at the end of December but stood marginally higher than at the same time last year at 165 for the quarter.
Within this, demand for the critically important two and three bed house moved ahead to represent 15% and 14% of transactions respectively, up from 6% and 13% of the total at the end of December 2010.

Commenting on the latest Guernsey housing data, Nigel Pascoe, Director of Lending for Skipton International, the Guernsey and Jersey mortgage specialists said, "This quarter, the change in methodology introduced by The States of Guernsey for the calculation of prices has muddied the picture slightly, but overall, the market remains solid and on any measure, is ahead in both value and volume terms compared to the position at the end of March 2010."

There were 7 open market transactions during the period, down from 18 at the end of December.

In the UK as a whole, according to the UK Land Registry, over the year to March 2010, prices fell back 2.3% and 1.1% in March alone. Over the year, the London region was the only one to show any gain, with a modest 0.8% recorded, whilst all other regions fell back in value, the worst hit being the North East where values fell by 9.3% during the 12 month period.

Nigel Pascoe ends, "We believe the market is now entering a period of consolidation. Demand is firm, but the absolute level of demand will be influenced by wider questions of confidence. As inflation in the UK rises, so we can expect to see some volatility in the market, but overall, Guernsey property continues to represent a good long term investment."

For further information regarding Skipton International visit http://www.skiptoninternational.com or call 730 730.

Media contacts: Please contact:
Guy Stephenson/Jennifer Duffy
Nacelle Limited
Tel: +44 (0)20 8333 9125
+44 (0) 7980 241 558
E-mail: jenny@nacelle.co.uk

Editor's notes:

1. Skipton International Limited (SIL) will lend on residential properties in Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney and the criteria on maximum loan to value is as follows:
Next Generation Mortgage with third party security guarantee - 100%
Standard variable rate loans, fixed are loans, base rate tracker - residential only - up to 90%
Buy to let, base rate tracker residential - up to 80%
The maximum term is 25 years.
2. AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and added each year.
3. Skipton International Limited (SIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Skipton Building Society (SBS), the UK's 4th largest building society with nearly GBP14 billion assets.
4. SIL is licensed under the Banking Supervision (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1994, as amended.

5. Skipton Building Society has given an undertaking agreeing to discharge the liabilities of SIL in so far as SIL is unable to discharge them out of its own assets and whilst SIL remains a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society.

6. As a Licensed Bank in Guernsey, Skipton International Limited is a participant in the Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (the "Scheme") established by The Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance, 2008 (the "Ordinance"). The following is a brief summary of the Scheme, but is not intended as a substitute for the actual wording of the Ordinance, a copy of which is available on request.

• The Scheme only applies to 'qualifying deposits', which broadly means deposits made by natural persons for their own benefit; with a few limited exceptions such as, for example, deposits made by trustees of retirement annuity trust schemes, the Scheme does not apply to companies, trusts, partnerships or charities.
• The Scheme will provide compensation in the event that a Licensed Bank is unable to repay its depositors. Under normal circumstances, payment will be made within 3 months of receipt of a valid claim form.
• Compensation is limited to a maximum of GBP50,000 per individual claimant; in the case of a joint account each depositor would be entitled.
• Total Scheme compensation in any five year period is limited to GBP100 million. If claims exceed this cap, compensation would be reduced pro rata. The cap also means that compensation in respect of any one bank cannot exceed GBP100 million.
• The amount payable may be reduced if the Bank has any contractual right of set-off against the account. The Scheme is entitled to recover compensation from any funds subsequently paid out by the Bank.
• Further information and a leaflet about the Scheme is available at:
Website: http://www.dcs.gg
Telephone: +44 (0) 1481 722756
Post: P.O. Box 380, St Peter Port, GY1 3FY

7. Deposits made with SIL are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

8. SIL places funds with SBS and thus its financial standing is linked to SBS. Publicly available information, including reports and accounts, is available from http://www.skipton.co.uk.

9. Copies of the latest SIL audited accounts are available on request.