The number of homes changing hands for more than £1m dropped by 11% in the first half of the year.

Figures from Lloyds Bank show the number of £1m-plus homes bought in Britain between January and June was 5,599, compared with 6,303 for the same period in 2014.

In London, sales of £1m-plus homes fell by 15% in the first six months.

Despite the falls, Lloyds says the number of £1m-plus sales was up threefold on a decade ago.

In London, there were 3,703 sales of £1m-plus homes in the first half, followed by the south-east where there were 1,037.

Lloyds also says there are now three towns outside London where the average property price is over £1m.

They are Virginia Water and Cobham, both in Surrey, and Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

Lloyds says the falls in £1m-plus homes were due to general election uncertainty and new Stamp Duty rates, which penalise buyers of more expensive homes.

The Lloyds research is backed by more recent data from LonRes, which appears to show the situation worsening, suggesting that the real problem is Stamp Duty.

LonRes says 22.5% fewer homes in the £1m to £2m bracket changed hands in London in the three months to September than in the same period last year.

Sales in the £2m to £5m bracket were down 16.9%.

According to LonRes, 35% of “prime” London homes up for sale have had their asking prices cut, some by very substantial amounts.

The Stamp Duty changes mean that buyers of homes worth under £937,000 pay less tax, but wealthier buyers pay considerably more on the portion of the sale price above £925,000 and 12% on the portion above £1.5m.

In Scotland, however, the number of properties selling for £1m-plus more than doubled in the first half of this year to 111, compared with 43.

There were signs that buyers were rushing to beat the new tax.

In Scotland, Stamp Duty changes in the form of a switch to the Land and Building Transaction Tax did not come into force until April.

Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson Stops & Staff, told EYE that there is a pronounced stand-off between buyers and sellers of homes costing from £1m upwards all over the country, and particularly with £2m-plus homes in London.

He said: “Sellers are simply not taking into account the increased costs for buyers.”

Separately, Deutsche Bank has called time on the capital’s housing market, while lastminute.com says it could be cheaper to stay in a five star hotel than rent a studio flat in parts of London.

Deutsche Bank, which referenced property bubbles in Hong Kong (1997) and Tokyo (1989), said that a vicious combination of rising interest rates, tighter lending, and the increasing politicisation of the housing market, would send London house  prices into revers.

Meanwhile lastminute.com said central London rents have risen by 7% over the last year, but hotel prices have dropped by nearly 5%.

As a result, tenants could pay £848 per week for a studio flat in the City, but negotiate a rate in a very good hotel for £601 per week, it claims.