Home sales worth more than £1m have reached a level not seen since the housing boom in 2007, according to a report. If these sales maintain, we can expect to see home extensions in the Wirral and in other parts of the country in the very near future.
Top-end house sales rose by 2% year-on-year last year, with London, the East Midlands, and Scotland all seeing increases, says Lloyds TSB. Westminster, Chelsea and Kensington were among the locations to have benefited the most.
In contrast, a mere four sales of homes worth a million or more occurred across Wales, with nine taking place in the North East of England.
Housing economist for Lloyds TSB, Nitesh Patel, said:
“Strong demand from wealthy, cash rich buyers, from both the UK and overseas, as well as limited supply, has supported this sector of the market. As a result, sales at the very top end of the market are much closer to their peak levels than the market as a whole.”
Over one in 20 homes that were sold in the capital last year were valued at more than £1m. London proved popular among wealthy international buyers seeking a safe cash haven. Both the capital and the South East comprised 85% of million pound house sales in 2012.
In terms of percentage increases, however, the strongest upsurge in million pound house sales occurred in Scotland with 151 sales. The second largest surge occurred in the East Midlands with 47 – a 12% year-on-year increase.
