A correlation exists between Elections and the Housing Market according to Propertyfinder. The website has analysed the housing market over each of the last five general elections and found that the political cycle has a marked effect.

For each election, house prices were markedly weaker ahead of the election, either showing slower growth or greater falls in prices. By the time the election actually came, the housing market strengthened significantly with prices either rising faster or falling more slowly.

Jim Buckle, Managing Director of propertyfinder.com said: Elections have a distinct effect on the housing market. There is no real logic to this, but house-buyers and sellers clearly hold back from taking the plunge until a new government is back in Westminster. We believe that 2005 is no different. The pre-election blues are definitely affecting the market at present, but whoever is elected, we expect a modest recovery in prices in the next three months as well as a slower rate of decline in housing transaction volumes.