There were 7,185 million pound property sales in Great Britain in 2010, some 54% higher than in 2009 which shows that property is still a good investment despite the current market being up and down, the researsh indicates.
It is the largest annual increase since 2006 when there was a 62%, increase in property at this price level and suggests a real resurgence at the very top end of the housing market, according to the Lloyds TSB Million Pound Property Report.
The report tracks all residential property sales of at least £1 million in Great Britain using data from the HM Land Registry and Registers of Scotland. House sales refer to data from 2010, 2009 and 2007.
But despite this significant increase, million pound property sales remain 13% below the levels they reached before the onset of the financial crisis in 2007 when there were 8,216 sales following a sizable 43% decline in sales between 2007 and 2009. These figures underline the fact that the upper end of the market was significantly affected by the financial crisis, the report points out.
Sales of million pound properties rose significantly more than total housing transactions in 2010. The 54% increase in million pound home sales in 2010 was nine times the overall increase in sales, 6%. In contrast, there was a 1% fall in the number of sales worth less than £250,000, the report also shows.
Despite this outperformance, million pound sales continue to represent a very small proportion of the total market, accounting for just 1% of all sales in Britain in 2010.
The geographical distribution of million pound home sales also reflects the wider north/south divide in the housing market with London and the South East accounting for 83% of all million pound sales in Great Britain in 2010. Nonetheless, there are signs of substantial growth elsewhere. The West Midlands recorded the biggest percentage increase in million pound sales at 109%, followed by the East of England at 62%, while London also saw a marked rise of 56%.
Wales and the North East of England were the only regions to see a fall in million pound sales, down 24% and 19% respectively, although the total number of million pound sales in both areas is very low.
There were 1,420 sales of properties costing at least two million pounds in 2010, some 62% higher than in 2009 and three quarters of all two million pound plus sales were in London. The number of five million pound properties sales rose by 79% from 70 in 2009 to 125 in 2010.
‘The number of properties sold for over £1 million has risen substantially over the past year, reflecting the strength of the very top end of the housing market. A small number of areas in London still account for the lion's share of all £1 million sales, with housing market activity in such locations continuing to benefit from strong demand from wealthy international buyers and limited supply. In contrast, the level of activity across the wider housing market remains subdued,’ said Suren Thiru, Lloyds TSB housing economist.
Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster in London accounted for nearly a quarter, 22%, of all the million pound homes sold in 2010 with 868 sales while Elmbridge in Surrey had the highest number of million pound sales outside London at 268.
The number of Scottish million pound property sales in 2010 increased at the fastest rate for three years, up 45%. Edinburgh saw the most million pound property sales outside southern England with 70 sales in 2010.
