Lloyds Bank has revealed that the number of property sales worth at least a million pounds is at a record high.
There were 6,143 million pound property sales in Great Britain in the first half of 2014 – equivalent to 33 transactions everyday over the period.
The 6,143 million pound property sales in the first half of the year represented a 46% increase compared to the same period in 2013 when sales totalled 4,198. In fact, million pound home sales have grown by 345% since the first half of 2009, when sales in this market segment were at their lowest (1,382) point in the past decade.
The 46% increase in million pound home sales in the first half of the year significantly outpaced the 26% increase in the sale of properties below a million pounds over the period. Despite this large increase, the sale of million pound properties accounts for just 1.3% of all national residential sales – although this share has more than doubled since 2009 (0.60%). Even in London, million pound sales account for just 7.6% of all sales.
There were 1,360 homes sold for at least two million pounds in the first half of 2014; 43% higher than over the first six months of 2013 when the number of sales totalled 949.
Homes selling for at least two million pounds accounted for 22% of all million pound plus home sales in the first half of 2014. This proportion had edged down marginally from 23% in the same period a year earlier. As a proportion of all sales, homes sold for over two million pounds account for just 0.22%.
70% (or 4,259) of all million pound home sales in Britain during the first half of 2014 were in London. The capital is followed by the South East with a share of 16% (1,096) and the East of England (6% or 109).
All regions have recorded an increase in sales in 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier. The largest percentage rises in million pound home sales were in the North East (150%), West Midlands (100%), South West (87%) and the East Midlands (80%). In the two regions with the largest concentration of million pound sales – London and the South East – transactions rose by 47% and 41% respectively.
Almost a quarter of all million pound homes sold in Britain during the first half of 2014 were in the prime property locations of Kensington and Chelsea (13%) and Westminster (10%). The next four London boroughs accounted for over one in every five (22%) of all million pound sales.
Cheshire East (31) and the City of Edinburgh (20) recorded the highest number of million pound sales outside southern England.
Sarah Deaves, private banking director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The number of homes sold for at least a £1 million is at a record high, with this sector of the housing market growing by almost a half in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2013. Property values in prime locations have been boosted by growing demand from wealthy, and often cash rich, buyers from the UK and overseas, as well as limited supply of such properties.
“Although demand has grown across all regions of Britain in 2014, the greatest concentration is in London -particularly the boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.”
