The pre-election pause in the housing market has dampened demand for house purchases and mortgages, new research shows.
House purchase approvals dipped 2.4% from February to March as political uncertainty slowed demand, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv.
This follows data published yesterday suggesting that pre-election jitters have hit the property market.
First-time buyers are particularly cautious in the run-up to the general election, e.surv said, as higher-LTV loans fell markedly.
There were just 9,343 higher-LTV loans in March, down 10.5% from February.
Higher-LTV lending remains strong in the North, notably Yorkshire and the Northwest.
With the election closing in, there were just 60,280 loans for house purchases in March, down from 61,760 in February.
That is a 10% drop compared to March 2014, when there were 66,970 such loans.
This is, however, the smallest annual fall seen for half a year, as we move past yearly comparisons with what proved to be a one-off peak in lending last year.
On a quarterly basis, there were 182,747 house purchase approvals in the first quarter of this year, compared to 178,579 in Q4 2014.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said: "The supply of accessible mortgages remains strong, but demand has wavered in the face of an uncertain general election.
"This is an unwelcome though not unexpected setback. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
Sexton said the minor jitter in the face of great uncertainty is testament to the resilience of the mortgage market. "The trend is still towards growth, with 2.3% more house purchase approvals in Q1 2015 than Q4 2014.
"We have to expect to come up against outside influences on homebuyers from time to time."
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