In a month we’ll learn who the new president of the United States will be, unless…?  I don’t want to go down that road of conspiracy theories but wanted to add some facts to the age old question, “Do president elections effect the housing market?”

According to the data keepers at the National Assn. of REALTORS, when it’s an election year for the CEO of the country, sales in November go down 9.4% VS in years where there isn’t an election sales go down by 9.8%.  Newsweek magazine interviewed chief investment officer at mortgage lender New American Funding who said “There is certainly a human element to housing prices and mortgage rates. As a result, election years can bring more volatility to prices and rates than in non-elections years. However, those moments of volatility are fleeting.”

Both candidates are promising to cut inflation, increase the housing supply, and cutting interest rates. We’ve just had a major half point reduction two weeks ago by the FED, which is saving buyers a bit on mortgage interest and credit card rates. People forget that a year ago rates were at 8% for an average home loan and now they are hovering in the low 6% area. No one can cut inflation pressures quickly but increasing affordable housing will help what he calls a “frozen, mostly unaffordable market.”

The market will respond to how we all vote in November because if we as individual voters like the outcome we’ll go out and buy things, like cars, houses, furniture, appliances (big ticket items). There is no evidence though that presidential elections have a huge impact on home prices. According to CoreLogic who has collected data since 1988, prices rose an average of 4.5% during the fall of non-election years compared to 4.4% in years with a presidential election.

I don’t care WHO you vote for, as long as you do vote and participate in our democratic process. In Utah, you can register at vote.org/register-to-vote/utah on line if your information is received by 5 PM 11 days before election day. It’s the same deadline for registering in person, but if you’re registering by mail, you must make sure your registration is received by that same time 11 days before an election. You can also register on election day. To register in Utah you must be a citizen of the U.S., have resided for 30 days before the election and live in the precinct in which you are registering to vote, be 18 years old by election day, not be convicted of certain felonies, treason or have been found to be mentally competent by a court of law.

For information on ALL Utah candidates, go to the League of Women Voters of Utah website: www.lwvutah.org. They offer non-partisan data on all those running for office in this year’s election in November. I won’t see you at the polls because I trust my mail-in ballot and the post office!