Average house prices rose 0.4% in May, taking the annual growth rate up to 1.3%, from 0.6% in April.

The figures come from the Nationwide which says that the average price is now £264,249 – up from £261,249 a month ago.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, says: “The market appears to be showing signs of resilience in the face of ongoing affordability pressures following the rise in longer term interest rates in recent months. Consumer confidence has improved noticeably over the last few months, supported by solid wage gains and lower inflation.

“With the recent announcement that the UK general election will take place on 4 July, we have analysed house price movements in the months around previous elections, and also the 2016 EU referendum.

“Past general elections do not appear to have generated volatility in house prices or resulted in a significant change in house price trends … On the whole, prevailing trends have been maintained just before, during and after UK general elections. Broader economic trends appear to dominate any immediate election-related impacts.”

Gardner says the period shortly after the 2019 election was an exception and the first Covid lockdown – and closure of the housing market – happened quickly afterwards, in March 2020. 

So taking that into account, Gardner concludes: “It appears that housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections. Rightly or wrongly, for most homebuyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling property.”