Vendors in Cheltenham could benefit from the upcoming general election, due to happen on July 4. The UK’s property market was already showing signs of slight recovery and the prospect of a change of government could increase consumer confidence even further.
UK house prices already rising
Nationwide said at the end of May that the UK’s house prices had risen slightly after falling over the previous two months.
According to HMRC, April saw the number of property sales rise for the fourth consecutive month, climbing by 5% to 90,430.
Small increases in mortgage rates had depressed the housing market earlier in 2024, but a boost in confidence usually causes a boost in the market.
How July’s general election might affect Cheltenham vendors
Nationwide researchers looked at house price data around general elections – and the 2016 EU referendum – to see what effect these events have on property trends and consumer behaviour.
Chief economist at Nationwide, Robery Gardner, said that wider economic events have the greatest effect on consumer behaviour and property market trends. Elections do, however, have a slight effect by causing some people to wait for the outcome of elections before deciding whether to buy or sell a property.
There’s a general election bump for vendors
Property services comparison site Compare My Move did find that house prices did tend to rise after general elections, with an average increase of 4.6% in the 12 months afterwards.
One of the biggest factors, according to Compare My Move, is whether there was a hung parliament or a clear majority – regardless of party.
The market loves certainty
When one party wins by a majority, house prices rise by 6.9% more, on average, than they do if there’s a hung parliament. It seems, according to Dave Sayce, MD at Compare My Move, that people want definite answers and stability, which hung parliaments don’t offer as much as clear electoral results.
Property market experts don’t expect to see any falls in property prices, in contrast to the dips seen after the 2010 election. Rather, they expect to see a small bounce in the months after the election and then a continued steady growth – a so-called post-election bounce. The second half of 2024 and early 2025 could be a great time to put your Cheltenham property on the market, so you can catch the wave.