The Big Surprise in the Housing Market During the Election Year?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that markets don’t like tumultuous change. Fear, excitement, apprehension, and suspicion—in short, the conditions swirling around an election year—tend to sour things. But does the housing market change during an election year?

A Bankrate analysis suggests that “home price appreciation in those years actually outpaced appreciation in the 28 non-election years.” In truth, neither the candidates nor the voter, truly affect the market. Jason Obradovich, chief investment officer at New American Funding, told Newsweek, “The challenges that impact housing today are unfortunately more structural than policy-driven, which means it will be very difficult for any administration to do anything that truly affects the market."

More surprising is what happens after the election. According to Keeping Current Matters, “data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows after nine of the last 11 Presidential elections, home sales went up the next year.”