Have elections impacted the property market?

“To be honest this isn’t an easy question to answer, considering who of us can truly say for certain what will happen in the future. However, I can offer my opinion on where I see the market going based on my experience working within the property industry,” says Goslett. “It would certainly seem that people have been hesitant to invest in property leading up to the elections, with many potential buyers adopting a wait-and-see approach. Many are holding back to see where things are going from a political perspective, however this is not the only factor that is having an impact.”

He adds that there are several things happening from an economic standpoint at the moment and many consumers are nervous about whether the market will experience a dip down in the near future. “That said, I think that after the elections there is likely to be resurgence in the property market and a bit of an uptick as consumer confidence returns and more buyers get ready to get back into market,” says Goslett.  

He notes that many within the real estate industry have coined the months leading up to this point as a slowdown in the market. However, Goslett says that he would prefer to look at it in another way. “While the numbers in the property market do reflect a slowdown - there are buyers in the market and there is a certain amount of available stock. Nevertheless we have reached the point where buyers are not prepared to pay the prices at which the stock is currently being marketed, putting the market in a state of flux,” he says. “Over the next few months as home prices adjust, and they will have to adjust downwards if sellers want to sell their properties, you will see the market begin to flow again. While there are issues around banks’ lending, or rumours that the banks are tightening up their lending criteria, I don’t think that is as much of an issue as buyers just not wanting to pay inflated home prices.”