Million dollar houses on the rise in UK

The number of million dollar
houses is on the rise in the UK, according to the latest research.

The report, from Investec Specialist Private Bank, found
that there was an 11 per cent increase year-on-year in the number of expensive
UK properties during the third quarter of 2011.

There were 21,982 properties with a value of over £1 million
on the market over the last three months, a significantly higher amount than
the same period in 2010. The luxury homes were worth a total of £48.71 billion,
working out at approximately £2.2 million per property. Last year, a total of
£46.46 billion pounds worth of real estate had an average of £2.34 million per
home.

Prime property “holding
up well”

Nine of the ten regions with the most million pound
properties for sale saw a rise in the third quarter compared to last year. For
the high-end investor, 105 properties were priced at over £15 million, with
Investec Specialist Private Bank hailing the report as showing the prime
property market to be “holding up well”.

Investec have seen “a huge increase in the number of
applications for mortgages of £1 million or more”, added OPP.

London leads the
luxury market

Unsurprisingly, 44 per cent of the million-pound-plus
properties were in London. Indeed, overseas investment and wealthy buyers
continue to invest in the UK capital as a safe haven. This demand keeps driving
the real estate values higher, leading to a growing number of £1 million properties
in the area.

“This has resulted in some people deciding to opt out of the
capital’s million pound property market and move to the UK’s Home Counties,
which are more affordable,” adds Investec. “Some have also made this decision
because they have been outbid by wealthy foreign nationals and there is a
general shortage of super prime property in London, partly because many are
being rented out and their owners are holding on to them as rental yields
rise.”