Price of housing outstrips pay levels

Thursday 17th December 2009, 2:58PM GMT.

House prices appear to have doubled since 1999

HOUSE prices have accelerated further out of Islanders’ reach over the last decade.

According to official States figures, average house prices appear to have more than doubled since 1999 – an increase far ahead of earnings.

The average property price increased from £244,000 in 1999 to £497,000 last September – a rise of 103%.

However, the gulf between the house price increase and the annual rate of increase in average earnings of 57% shows that property ownership is further away than ever.

And the figures show that public spending has grown by 80% since the year 2000. Allowing for the rise in inflation, the real growth has been just under 5% – probably in part due to a 9% rise in the number of public sector employees.