Demand for houses worth £1m is greater outside London than inside
London is losing its grip on the luxury housing market with more homes worth £1m sold outside the capital than inside for the first time.
Data provided by the HM Land Registry has revealed that 51 per cent of the 6,573 homes that sold for more than £1m in England and Wales were based outside London in the first six months of 2021.
According to analysts at Search Acumen this is the first time that the majority of sales over £1m have been outside London since records began in 1995.
Sales in London between January and June 2021 dropped sharply compared to the first half of 2020, when 61 per cent of houses that sold for over £1m, some 5,425 properties, were based in the Greater London Area.
In comments to the Financial Times, Richard Donnell, research director of Zoopla, said: “People are trading out of London and buying million-pound homes in commuter towns.”
This trend was reflected in the growing numbers of properties worth over £1m that were sold in the South East region. 2390 properties in the luxury price band were sold in the first six months of the year up 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.
With demand for spacious properties being increased by lockdown restrictions during the pandemic house prices are increasing faster outside the capital than inside.
According to Halifax average house prices in London rose 2.5 per cent in the 12 months to July while prices in Wales increased 13.8 per cent in the same period.
Read more: House prices rise but annual growth slows to 7.6 per cent as ‘steadier period’ predicted