Sales Of £1 Million Houses Reach Highest Level Since 2007

Sales of homes worth at least £1 million have reached their highest level since the peak of the housing market in 2007, Lloyds TSB has said.

Britain saw 3,375 sales of such properties in the first half of this year, an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010 and the largest total since the first part of 2007, when there were 3,680 sales.

The strength at the top end of the market was in marked contrast to home sales generally, which saw a 9% decline in the first half of this year.

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."

London drove the rise in luxury sales, accounting for 79% of the total increase. Almost two-thirds of million pound-plus home sales in the first six months of 2011 were in London.

The capital saw 2,163 sales in the first half of this year compared with 1,926 in the same period in 2010.

Kensington and Chelsea was the biggest luxury property hotspot, with 461 such sales in the first half of 2011, while Westminster enjoyed 375 and Hammersmith and Fulham had 198, coming second and third respectively.

The North East as a whole enjoyed the highest percentage increase in luxury sales, with 13 top end homes sold in 2011, compared with three in the first half of 2010.

Despite the boost to the luxury market, million pound sales made up just 1.1% of total sales for the first half of the year and even in London they only accounted for 5.7%, Lloyds TSB said.

The figures were taken from the Land Registry and Registers of Scotland.

Comments

[werba]

12:29 PM on 10/22/2011

It's really just about 'location.' Where I live,a very modest family home - no more than 1,300 square feet, will set you back around £600,000 and you will easily pay £1.8 million for a good-sized, 4 bed detached with a big garden. They cost this much because you can commute to London in 25 minutes, and because the area is very green, and very safe. These are not rich people's homes - far from it, they are lived in by families where both partners work full time, mainly to pay school fees. Why? Because the local grammar school, which 15 years ago their children would have attended for sure, is crammed with heavily-tutored, genuinely rich kids who are driven in from miles away. Why not save £36,000 a year in fees for 3 kids & send them to the nearest comp? You jest, of course.

[Mark2100]

10:18 AM on 10/22/2011

The divide gets bigger. I'm sure there are plenty of Ferrari's in the driveways as they reported their best 6 months sales record ever.

[Orthrus]

10:48 AM on 10/22/2011

Where were you brought up? You don't keep a Ferrari in a driveway, especially in the winter. It should be cosseted away in a garage awaiting the summer.

[Orthrus]

06:17 AM on 10/22/2011

Yet more proof, if proof was needed, that the wealthy are getting wealthier. The reality is that once one gets to a certain level of wealth it is difficult to spend all the income that the assets generate. Therefore ridiculous amounts of money are spent on houses and art and as a desperate attempt to give money away, on charity. None of these activities create jobs so the much vaunted trickle down economics is a complete myth when it comes to economic stimulation.

Where I live in London there is no shortage of million pound houses, but are they luxurious? No. Similar houses in the north of England would sell for a third or a quarter of the London price so buyers are not really getting anything out of the ordinary for their money. As with anything overpriced its value is only supported by confidence not intrinsic worth.

[Sickofpoliticians2]

05:44 AM on 10/22/2011

Obviously the "We're all in it together" brigade aren't doing to badly out of the financial misery of those who can barely heat their homes, but its a good time for buying while the bankers whittle away at any savings the low paid have by keeping interest rates at the minimum, house buyers know there investment is safe as interest rates recover house prices will rise, meanwhile renting is providing income for those fortunate enough to be able to snap up the latest repos., once they have the middle and lower classes on the bottom again no doubt Osbourne and co. will be hailing the financial recovery and the wealthy can then return to living on the improved interest rates. Million pound houses in the North East are few, judging by the 13 sales so are those able to afford them.