Twenty-fold rise in million pound properties

London’s share of the country’s million pound sales has fallen from 79 per cent in 1995 to 58 per cent in 2005 as the number of sales in this exclusive price bracket has risen dramatically elsewhere across Britain, says Halifax.

In 2005 there were 788 sales above £1 million outside London and the South East compared with only 22 in 1995.

Kensington and Chelsea and City of Westminster have consistently topped the £1m plus sales table by a wide margin.

During 1995 – 2005 Kensington and Chelsea (4,946 sales) and City of Westminster (3,070 sales) accounted for 36 per cent of all one million plus property sales nationally.

Martin Ellis, Chief Economist at the Halifax, said: “Despite the substantial increase in £1 million sales over the past decade, such sales remain a tiny part of the market, accounting for only 0.4 per cent of all sales in 2005.

“Even in London, where sales in this price bracket are far more frequent, £1 million sales represented only 2 per cent of total property sales last year.”

Outside London, the South East and East of England, Poole in Dorset has had the highest number of sales over £1 million since 1995, with 184 properties.

Midlothian in Scotland, Trafford in Manchester and Macclesfield in Cheshire are the other areas with sales of more than 100 properties during this period.