Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon has talked about "pre-election jitters", and real estate firms Harcourts, Bayleys and Barfoot & Thompson agree.
Every three years, the pace of sales slumped in the 12 weeks before a general election, said Bayleys Real Estate managing director Mike Bayley.
"It will be several weeks before the residential property market is again comfortable," he said.
"That timeframe coincides perfectly with the arrival of spring and the usual uplift in not only temperatures, but also more properties coming on to the market as vendors become motivated to settle on a sale before Christmas."
More homes should come on the market in November, Mr Bayley said.
Labour and the Greens have promised to introduce a capital gains tax if they gain power. Several parties have also talked about introducing a warrant of fitness scheme for rental housing.
But Ms O'Sullivan didn't think any specific policy was affecting the market - rather, it was people "sitting back to wait and see as the world might be different next week".
"There's uncertainty about all sorts of things," she said.
