According to the Jersey House Price Index, produced by Statistics Jersey, the average cost of a home in the first quarter of this year was £496,000. The average price of a three-bedroom house in Jersey was £586,000.
But the number of properties sold in the first quarter fell compared to the same time last year, from 321 to 309.
In a statement, mortgage lenders Skipton International said that the rise in prices was becoming ‘unsustainable’.
Lorraine Mclean, mortgage sales manager at the company, said that a lack of supply of homes to meet increasing demand for properties was causing prices to rocket.
‘Our experience shows that there is currently a lot of demand for property, especially those looking to move up the ladder from small flats to larger homes,’ she said.
‘This, coupled with a lack of supply of these properties, is greatly driving up their prices.’
Ms Mclean said that she did not think the booming market would cause another crash similar to that of 2008 because borrowing controls were now much stricter.
But she added that she was concerned about home affordability.
‘There have been suggestions that we are experiencing a boom in the market, similar to that of 2007 prior to the crash, but we believe the market is different now,’ she said.
‘The mortgage industry has moved on greatly since then and stricter lending criteria means home owners are in a better position to weather changes to the market.
‘However, we do not wish to see house prices continue to rise beyond people’s affordability. Growth has to be gradual and maintainable.’
The average price of a three-bedroom house in Jersey is now £586,000. In 2011, during the recession, the average cost of a home in this category fell below £500,000.
All property types recorded an average price increase over the year, with the exception of one-bedroom flats, which saw a slight decline.
The overall average home price in the Island is £496,000, compared to £224,000 in the UK as a whole and £476,000 in London. In Northern Ireland, the cheapest region, a home can be bought on average for £146,000.
In the rental market prices were largely unchanged from a year ago.
