Number of million-pound home sales falls in London, Scotland and Wales

While prime property sales in the North West of England and Yorkshire were up year-on-year, the number of million pound property sales in London, Scotland and Wales was down

Across Britain, there was a 1 per cent fall in the number of properties sold for more than a million pounds in the first six months of 2017

The number of homes selling for over £1m was lower in the first half of 2017 than during the same period a year earlier, according to analysis.

While prime property sales in the North West of England and Yorkshire were up year-on-year, the number of million pound property sales in London, Scotland and Wales was down, Lloyds Bank found.

Across Britain, there was a 1 per cent fall in the number of properties sold for more than a million pounds in the first six months of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016, with number of sales edging down from 6,684 to 6,613.

London, where sales of £1m-plus homes tend to be concentrated, saw transactions in this bracket plunge by 7 per cent, from from 4,230 to 3,940.

By contrast, million pound property sales in the North West of England and Yorkshire and the Humber have jumped by 55 per cent and 45 per cent respectively, albeit from much lower bases.

Lloyds Bank's research looked at figures from the Land Registry covering England and Wales and the Registers of Scotland.

Sarah Deaves, private banking director at Lloyds Bank, said stamp duty changes in previous years, which have made the tax more expensive for buy-to-let investors and for people purchasing top-end properties, may be partly behind the figures.

She continued: “There are several factors that could be responsible for the ongoing uncertainty in the market, including interest rates and economic stability.”

Lloyds said despite a year-on-year fall in million pound property sales, the top end of the market has held up relatively well, with sales of properties for under £1m having fallen more sharply, by 7 per cent, across Britain in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year.

Here are the numbers of million pound property sales in the first half of 2017 and the percentage change compared with the first half of last year, according to Lloyds Bank:

North East, 13, 18 per cent

North West, 132, 55 per cent

Yorkshire and the Humber, 55, 45 per cent

East Midlands, 24, minus 27 per cent

West Midlands, 81, 33 per cent

East of England, 527, minus 4 per cent

London, 3,940, minus 7 per cent

South East, 1,497, 15 per cent

South West, 282, 5 per cent

Wales, nine, minus 31 per cent

Scotland, 53, minus 35 per cent

PA