Research carried out by Your Move, which looked at property transactions around the time of General Elections going back to 1979, revealed that high voter turnout results in a decline in the property market.
In 1987, when 75.3% of the electorate turned out to vote, transactions in the three-month run-up to the General Election dropped by 3.4%. In 1992 when there was a 77.7% turnout, transactions fell 2.4% in the previous three months.
However, in the 2005 General Election, when turnout was relatively low at 61.4%, there was a 5% rise in the number of property transactions.
David Newnes, managing director of Your Move, said: “Important General Elections with massive turnouts tend to mean a decline in housing transactions. The more seriously the electorate takes an election the larger the scale of the disruption to the property market with tens of thousands of potential homebuyers or sellers distracted by the political process or waiting until it is over before entering the market.”
Your Move concluded that when the Conservatives do well at the polls, increased activity in the housing market follows.
In 1979, the Conservatives received 13,697,923 votes, compared to 11,457,079 in October 1974. In the three months following the election, there was an 8.6% surge in activity.
However, in 1997, the Conservative vote fell from 14,093,007 in 1992 to 9,600,943 votes. Housing transactions shrank 2% in the following three months.
