The property market is unlikely to return to normal after this morning’s general election result, it has been claimed.
In yesterday’s snap election the Conservative Party lost its majority but Labour was unable to gain sufficient seats to become the largest party.
This has prompted concerns that the slowing of Britain’s property market, which was already detected in the run-up to the poll, will continue.
Russell Quirk, chief executive of eMoov.co.uk, said: “As we awake today to the opposite of a strong and stable administration but to a rather unexpected hung parliament, I fear that the property market’s post-election return to normality that I’d hoped for may be rather further away still.
“Political instability breeds procrastination on the part of homebuyers and sellers and for over a year now we have seen the effects of that on volumes, if not so much prices, as a consequence of the EU vote and then the snap general election.
“I suspect that the housing brief will take a back seat now, despite politicians’ promises in recent weeks, given the combined weight of negotiating Brexit, stabilising our economy, button-holing political support across the aisle on every vote and, inevitably, campaigning again for the next poll.”
A survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found enquiries from new buyers, new instructions from those wanting to sell and agreed sales had all declined during May, which Rics attributed to the election.
Meanwhile house price growth “lost momentum” in the run-up to yesterday’s election.
Average UK house prices dropped by 0.2 per cent in the three months to May compared to the first quarter of the year, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index (HPI).
It marks the second quarterly fall since November 2012, adding to growing evidence of a slowdown in the market.
damian.fantato@ft.com
