A vote to leave the EU could trigger a 5% to 10% fall in house sales, a report suggests.
Property analysts Hometrack said that a Brexit vote on June 23 could result in a 5% to 10% fall in housing transactions, with London bearing the brunt of the slowdown.
Its analysis of city house price growth and transactions across the UK over the past 20 years found that uncertainties in the market caused by external factors tend to have a bigger impact on the number of sales taking place than house prices.
It said that while sales could be impacted by a vote to Leave, house prices could still hold up.
Hometrack said London, which has been seen as the engine of the housing market recovery, tends to be more prone to the impact of external factors such as the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000. Part of the reason for London experiencing greater potential sales volatility is the rapid house price growth that has taken place there compared with other UK cities, according to Hometrack.
Its report said: "A lack of relative value in London post-2000 increased the sensitivity of the market to external factors, something which is very pertinent today when we consider the impact of the referendum result."
Meanwhile, a vote to Remain will have the greatest potential to push house prices and transactions upwards in cities away from the South such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, where housing demand is growing and strong real rates of house price growth are likely to be sustained, the report said.
Read more: House prices 'increased five times as much as average earnings'
Hometrack said the rate of national house price growth would "undoubtedly slow" in the event of a vote to Leave, but the scale of this would depend upon the economic impact and whether mortgage rates increase.
Read more: Osborne dubbed 'Pinocchio' over Brexit house price warnings
It said: "The greater the direct impact on the economy then the greater the downside for turnover and house prices. If the economy keeps growing, albeit more slowly, negative price growth is unlikely."
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