See you on Millionaires' Row

Sales in the million-pound-plus price bracket are booming. Christopher Browne reports on who's buying and where

Pop star buys £8m Pimlico mansion from painter. Actor sells £6m stately home to IT entrepreneur. Each week, we hear about a new flurry of celebrity property deals, and it may not be long before your own street becomes a Multi-millionaires' Row – if it hasn't already done so.

These caches of wealth, prestige and pizzazz are usually found in the "old money" areas of London's Mayfair, Belgravia and Hampstead; Wentworth in Surrey with its royal connections; St George's Hill, Weybridge, where John Lennon sometimes enjoyed a toast with neighbour and writer Eric Sykes; and, of course, among the newer affluence of Bishop's Avenue in north London.

Between July and September last year, a record 983 homes were sold for £1 million or more, according to the Land Registry, which holds the title deeds of every property in Britain. And the latest figures for October to December are likely to be even higher. Instead of opting for the historic niches mentioned above, however, the £1m-plus home-buyer is increasingly choosing the cathedral cities of Winchester, Oxford and Norwich.

The reasons for the change, say property agents and analysts, are improved internet technology, which enables people to live and work 100 miles or more from London, the irresistible lure of a green and more relaxed environment, and the huge sums that London owners can realise when selling their homes.

Only this week, the Norwich office of estate agent FPD Savills sold its first £2m mansion, a small stately home in 80 acres of parks and lakes. The city had already joined Millionaire's Row last year, however, when FPD Savills sold seven £1m-plus properties, including two rectories and a mill, in the Norfolk area.

"London owners are getting great prices for their properties and are attracted by the unspoilt countryside, the Norfolk Broads and a number of excellent schools. If they want to continue working in London, they keep a pied-à-terre in the capital and return to their families in Norwich for long weekends," says Louis de Soissans, who runs FPD Savills' office there.

Life for today's big property buyer begins at 40, apparently. De Soissans says that a recent Savills survey showed that most Millionaire's Row members are aged 40 to 49.

Peter Young, managing director of estate agent John D Wood and Co, explains: "The population is getting older and couples are having fewer children. Many buyers are in their forties and have inherited money, probate windfalls or gifts and trusts from parents, which are unaffected by inheritance tax.

"They either spend the cash on independent school fees or on a fine country home with an Aga and better lifestyle, where they can indulge their dogs and horses and enjoy all the other rural pursuits."

John D Wood, which has 12 London and 10 country offices, has just had its biggest sale of 2003 – which just so happened to be in London. An 18th-century mansion in Holland Park that was advertised at £11m eventually sold for £10m. "I never thought it would be valued at that price, let alone sold for it, but with the stock market down and property stable and rising, people prefer to put their money in realisable assets," Young says.

Property's present and future, he says, lies in "the southern cathedral cities of Oxford, Norwich and Winchester and rural towns like Farnham and Cobham in Surrey. The days of the City slicker who lives in central London or commutes from nearby are passing."

But down in the countryside something else is stirring and drawing the City slicker away from his or her London existence: internet technology. Advances in broadband and VPN (virtual private networks, which enable users to access office databases from home) have driven many employers and employees away from their desks into home or home/office environments.

A survey last year by Netscalibur, the internet group, and the Social Market Foundation (SMF), a Government think-tank, showed 2.2m people are now teleworkers – compared with only a third of that total five years ago. "More and more high-net-worth senior executives with IT skills are buying large and expensive homes where they can spend three to five days a week working, instead of having to depend on a not-always-reliable train service or driving to work," says Beth Egan, deputy director of the think-tank.

"The costs of the new networks are coming down and the areas they can be accessed are increasing. It means that executives can use all their working facilities at home and get details of meetings and appointments e-mailed to them. Someone who lives and works in London can now move to the Welsh borders and do a full working day surrounded by hillsides and in the comfort of their study."

It's not just the geography that is changing, however; the sociology is too. Richard Donnell, FPD Savills' head of residential research, says many of Britain's top-tier homebuyers are now from overseas – France, Germany, Italy and Russia being the four favourites.

"It's partly job- and opportunity-related – London is still the monetary capital of Europe, and English is the main international language. Buyers from abroad are increasingly also choosing other cities in Britain as they have excellent schools, universities and facilities where they can educate their children."

Peter Young, of John D Wood, has also noticed a marked rise in Russian clients. "Perestroika and the fall of the Soviet Union has spawned the release of huge sums of money and Russian antiques and artefacts. Suddenly its fallen nobility are rising like phoenixes from the ashes."

Young, a keen player of Monopoly, adds: "We may have had two recent recessions in the UK and a drooping stock market. But property, just as it is in Monopoly, is a long-term hold. Unlike stocks and shares that fluctuate, people buy it for capital growth, knowing that if prices fall or the market has a troubled period, they can let their house or houses out as an investment until it settles down again."

And with the Monopoly-money prices of today's sales, it's not surprising that regional versions of the board game are appearing. So instead of Mayfair or Kensington Park Gardens, you'll soon be able to put your money on Winchester Close as your next long-term hold.