23 May 2012 Last updated at 19:59 ET

Jersey house prices fall to lowest level for four years

The average price of a home in Jersey fell from £423,000 to £398,000

The price of a home in Jersey has fallen to its lowest recorded level for four years.

The States of Jersey Statistics Unit has published the Jersey House Price Index for the first three months of this year.

The average price of a home in Jersey was £398,000 in the first quarter of 2012, a drop from £423,000 in the last three months of 2011.

That is £42,000 less than Guernsey, but £24,000 more than London.

The report showed the average price of the properties sold in the first three months of this year was 5% lower than the same time last year, and 4% lower than the average recorded for all of 2011.

A spokesman for the unit said the drop was driven by two, three and four bedroom houses which had fallen in price by up to 8% in a year.

But the report showed the turnover of properties sold in January, February and March was 24% higher than in the last three months of 2011.

The spokesman said this was driven by an increase in sales of share transfer one bedroom flats.