Millionaires not worried by slump

Despite the slowdown in the housing market, millionaires are still having little trouble moving home, says a new report.

The number of property sales worth at least £1m has hit its highest level since the peak of the housing market in 2007, says new research by Lloyds TSB.

There were 3,375 sales at £1m and above in Britain in the first half of 2011 – equivalent to 19 sales every day.

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This is the largest total since 2007 (3,680) and ten per cent up on the same period in 2010 (3,075).

The ten per cent increase in £1m home sales in the first half of the year was in marked contrast to a nine per cent fall in residential property sales as a whole over the period – but £1m sales account for only 1.1 per cent of total sales.

There are now an estimated 200,000 homes in Britain worth at least £1m.

Almost two-thirds of all million-pound sales in Britain in the first six months of 2011 were in the capital, followed by the South East (690), East of England (227) and the South West (118).

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All these regions in southern England, together with the North East and Scotland, saw more sales in the first six months of this year, against the same period in 2010.

Four regions saw a drop in £1m sales: West Midlands (-31 per cent), Yorkshire and the Humber (-30 per cent), East Midlands (-28 per cent) and the North West (-4 per cent).