Posted on Monday, November 7, 2011
Sales of homes worth £1m or more have reached their highest level since the peak of the housing market in 2007, according to Lloyds TSB.
There were 3,375 sales of £1m-plus properties in the first six months of this year, an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010 and the highest number since the first half of 2007, when there were 3,680 sales.
The strength at the top end of the market was in marked contrast to overall transactions, which declined by 9% in the first half of this year.
Despite the rise in sales of high-end properties, they only account for a tiny proportion – just 1.1% – of total transactions. Even in London, they only account for 5.7% of all sales.
Suren Thiru, Lloyds TSB housing economist, said: “Strong demand from wealthy cash rich buyers both in the UK and from overseas, as well as limited supply of such properties, has helped to boost the level of activity at the very top end of the housing market.
”Almost two-thirds of the £1m-plus sales were in London, with 2,163 sales in the first half of the year compared with 1,926 in the same period in 2010.
In the North-East there were just 13 sales of £1m-plus homes. However, this compared with only three in the first six months of 2010.
Richard Lowth, Managing Director of Richard Lowth & Co said: “Quality property in sought after locations has always performed more strongly than the rest of the market as buyers tend to be owner occupiers and take a longer term view of the market.”
