(CNN) — Slower mortgage approvals, stalled rural home loans and a freeze on new flood insurance policies: The government shutdown, which began at midnight on October 1, could gum up some of the gears that keep the US housing market running.

It is unclear how long the shutdown will remain in effect. Experts say most housing programs will continue amid the closure, and most people may not be impacted yet. But with home sales already stalled by high prices, the government’s first shutdown in nearly seven years threatens to slow parts of the housing market even further.

“Anything that you need to reach the government for, if someone is not in the office or someone is on furlough, that loan may have an issue,” said Justin Demola, the president of Lenders One, a national alliance of mortgag

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