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Million pound property sales fall in first half

by: Christina Hoghton
  • 02/11/2015
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Million pound property sales fall in first half
The number of sales of properties worth at least £1m has fallen in the first half of 2015, according to Lloyds Bank.

Sales dropped by 11% to 5,599 in the first half of the year, compared with 6,303 in the same period last year, the first decline in three years. However, Lloyds recorded a 254% rise in million pound home sales over the last 10 years, from just 1,540 sales in the first half of 2005.

In contrast to the overall falls, some expensive areas have bucked the trend, creating the first three ‘million pound towns’ outside of London. These luxury enclaves include Virginia Water, Cobham and Beaconsfield – the three most expensive towns in Britain according to Lloyds Bank – with average house prices reaching £1,168,992, £1,042,552 and £1,003,367, respectively.

Sarah Deaves, private banking director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The number of homes sold for over £1m has fallen sharply over the past year, with a pronounced slowdown in the prime and central London market.

“However, the regional picture is much more mixed and we’re seeing the emergence of towns where the average price is at least £1m. While there are several London neighbourhoods where prices are already at this elevated level, outside of the capital this is a first.”

The Lloyds Bank research also showed that sales of million pound homes in London fell by 15% from 4,357 to 3,703 in the first six months of this year, the largest decline in the capital since the first half of 2009.

There was an even larger drop in sales of multi-million pound homes in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period a year earlier. Sales of properties with a price tag ranging from £5m to £10m were 15% lower in the first half, while those priced between £2m and £5m fell by 26%. This is likely to be in part due to an increase in Stamp Duty on higher priced properties, the report said.

According to similar research published by Knight Frank today, house prices in prime central London fell by 0.3% in October as the impact of higher Stamp Duty Land Tax for pricier properties started to sink in.

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