UK’s million pound home sales surge
SALES of properties worth over £1m have shot up at the fastest rate in four years, research by Lloyds TSB showed yesterday.
Million pound house sales numbered 7,185 last year, up 54 per cent from 2009.
“This is the largest annual increase since 2006 and suggests a real resurgence at the very top end of the housing market,” the Lloyds TSB million pound property report said.
There are now around 184,000 homes in Britain worth at least one million pounds, according to the report.
The increase in million pound sales dwarfed the rest of the property market, where sales rose by only six per cent.
Weak demand, combined with an increase in supply, will cause downward pressure on house prices in the second half of this year, a separate survey by Hometrack revealed.
Prices stayed level in April, Hometrack reported, the first time in 9 months that prices have not fallen. However, prices could fall again, Hometrack says, with London’s strong market continuing to put a gloss on headline prices across the UK.
House prices were up by 0.3 per cent in the capital in April, Hometrack said, offsetting a 0.3 per cent fall across the rest of the UK.