The States of Guernsey has released its Quarterly Residential Property Prices Bulletin for the period 1 January to 31 March 2021.
For the first time, the bulletin includes data on private rentals for the latest quarter, which have previously only been published on an annual basis.
The data shows a year-on-year increase in the purchase and rental price of local market properties. The mix-adjusted average purchase price of properties has increased to £509,906, up 15% since the same time last year.
This represents a new peak in house prices in Guernsey although, adjusted for inflation, they are still about 4% lower than the 2013 peak in real terms.
The increase in prices reflects a higher than average volume of sales over the past four quarters, despite the disruption to sales caused by the lockdowns beginning in March 2020 and January 2021.
The average rental price increased by 10% over the past year. This acceleration in the formerly steady increase in prices is accompanied by a significant reduction in the number of advertised properties.
Deputy Peter Roffey, President of the Committee for Employment & Social Security, said: "We are very conscious that housing is a key issue for many islanders, and it has been evident that our housing market is currently subject to an increased level of demand among renters and buyers.
"Adding rental prices to the quarterly data set places us in a better position to evidence these pressures.
"My Committee, in conjunction with members of the Policy & Resources Committee and the Committee for Environment & Infrastructure, is progressing the Housing Strategy Programme, looking at the island's housing needs, both affordable and private sector, and how they could be met."
• Residential Property Price Statistics and all other quarterly and annual publications are available here