FOUR jobs are to go at a leading Isle of Man law firm — as the downturn in the property market begins to hit home.
Two full-time and two part-time staff are to be made redundant from the property department of Dickinson Cruickshank.
Nick Verardi, a partner in the Athol Street-based law firm, said: 'This is due to the downturn in the property market we've experienced in the Isle of Man in the unusual economic climate.'
He said two of the redundancies were voluntary and these staff were leaving 'amicably' over the next three months.
>> Manx housing market faces up to slowdown12 November 2008Island estate agents say the housing market is facing its gloomiest prospect in years.
House prices in the Isle of Man fell by 1.5 per cent in the third quarter of the year, according to the latest Bank of Scotland index.
But prices are still up 0.5 per cent on this time last year, while prices in the UK have dropped 12.4 per cent over the past year.
The price of the average property now stands at £262,616, 50 per cent above the UK average of £175,143.
Average house prices have increased by 17 per cent over the past five years, according to the index.
The slowdown in the housing market is also being partly blamed for the closure of estate agent Chris Blackburn's Douglas branch.
But Mr Blackburn said the office, in Victoria Street, which only opened in March, was a joint venture with surveyor Michael Atherton that the pair had decided not to pursue.
'The downturn in the market was a factor but not the total reason,' he said.
'The Douglas branch was an experiment just to test the water.
'My core business is Castletown and always has been. That's alive and kicking and not affected at all.
'There is a slowdown, there's no two ways about it. But if this crisis is going to bite at all it's going to show itself in the new year and spring.
'People who don't have to move are adopting a wait and see attitude — waiting to see how it pans out.'
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