Number of million-pound houses rises – survey – BBC News
Image copyright PA The number of houses sold for at least 1 million has risen by 12% in the first half of 2016 compared with the previous year, a report has suggested.
But the average price of a top-end property is less than it was two years ago, according to Lloyds Bank.
It found the average price of a home sold above 1m has dropped by 135,251 between 2014 and 2016.
The bank said the price drop was partly due to a reduction in sales at the higher end of the market.
The research found 6,684 homes were sold for at least 1m during the first six months of 2016, a 12% rise on the 5,946 sold in the same period in 2015.
The report said the average price of a property selling for more than 1m had dropped from 1,862,578 to 1,727,327 over a two-year period.
Changes in stamp duty in late 2014 made it more expensive for buyers to purchase a home which was worth more than 937,500.
The bank found north-east England had the biggest rise in the number of million-pound property sales with an 83% increase – due to 11 purchases.
The largest number of purchases took place in London where there were 4,238 sales of million-pound properties.
Scotland was the only part of Britain where sales of houses above the 1m mark have fallen over the last year with a 33% decline, according to Lloyds Bank.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37882087