There has been a 10% drop in sales across the richest part of the capital – prime central London – as even the super-wealthy appear to be backing away from tax hikes.

Meanwhile, in the most affluent part of Surrey, one agent said that the market for £2m-plus properties has almost come to a halt.

But James Wyatt, of Barton Wyatt, emphasized that transactions throughout the county are being hit because of higher taxes.

Wyatt, whose firm sells homes on the exclusive Wentworth estate, said that the last hike in Stamp Duty was a “step too far”.

He said: “There is certainly a bit of a feel-good factor in the housing market but there are pockets where the massively increased cost of moving is putting people off marketing their homes and staying put instead.

“Surrey, in general, has such a restricted stock of supply of properties for sale, that volumes of transaction are poor.

“Most markedly, the over £2m market where buyers get hit by the Government’s swingeing 7% Stamp Duty, has almost come to a halt.

“The increase was a step too far. This Government has become addicted to Stamp Duty revenue. The more they raise, the more they want. It is as bad as the Americans’ addiction to oil (as President Bush once pointed out).

“Looking very locally, there has been an absence of sales above £2m since last summer. I don’t expect this to last, but it clearly shows that the Government is out of touch with the property market.

“The UK needs a workforce who are able to move around, but with the average cost of moving for a Surrey resident somewhere in the region of 6-10% of their property value, it is easier to stay put.

In central London, upmarket Knightsbridge-based firm WA Ellis said that transactions of £2m-plus are now low that there is also only  “patchy” evidence that there have been price rises for properties in this price bracket.

Partner Richard Barber said: “Amidst the hyperbole surrounding the prime central London market and the endless speculation regarding a property bubble, there is a rather more realistic and sobering story emerging.”

He said that in the postcodes that his own firm deals with, transactions measured 504 in the first quarter of last year, but only 452 in the first three months of this.

Barber said that transaction levels above the £2m mark are “exceptionally low”. In west Chelsea, while there have been 58 transactions under £2m in the last three months, only four have been above £2m.