Does an election year impact the SunCrest real estate market?
We’ve actually been getting this question a lot as Election Day draws near. We do know that each fall the market slows as everyone settles in for the winter. But we thought we’d dig through the data to see if there are any trends in years with presidential elections.
Examining SunCrest home sales since the community was first built, we looked specifically at the trends from October to November. On average, there’s about a 7% decline each year. In election years, that decline is about 22%. It should be noted that this is a limited sample size over only a few elections in our still young community, but we believe it’s more closely related to overall consumer confidence and consumer caution. Any declines in sales were short lived.
Our take: How people view the election may impact their immediate home buying selling decisions, but ultimately the housing market has always marched on. Factors like the economy, jobs, interest rates, and overall consumer confidence will ultimately have far more meaningful roles in the home purchase decision, and those factors develop much more gradually than do overnight election results. While some consumers may wait to buy or sell ahead of the election, we always recommend working with a Realtor who can help guide and educate on the current market trends and bigger picture factors to determine if a move is in your future.