Sales of £1m-plus homes have risen sharply across the UK, with two-thirds more deals agreed in the past four months than in the corresponding period last year.
An average of 868 £1m-plus sales have been agreed each week since the beginning of June, 66% higher than the weekly average of 522 over the same period in 2019, according to the latest data from Savills and TwentyCi.
Despite the lockdown earlier this year, a total of 23,000 sales were agreed in the first three quarters of 2020, 16% higher year-on-year.
Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research, who ran the analysis, commented: “This points to a rebalancing of the market between London and the rest of the country. Whereas sales in London rose by 4% in the first nine months of the year, they are up 27% across the rest of the UK, albeit London still accounts for over four in 10 sales with a £1m-plus price tag.”
According to the research, the South East has seen the biggest rise in absolute numbers, with sales increasing 28% to 6,560.
The South West saw sales rise 38% to 2,022, while in Yorkshire and The Humber volumes were up 44% to 341 agreed sales, albeit absolute numbers of millionaire property sales remain much lower.
|
£1m+ agreed sales year to end Sept |
2019 |
2020 |
Increase 2020 v 2019 |
| London |
9066 |
9403 |
4% |
| South East |
5128 |
6560 |
28% |
| East of England |
1997 |
2469 |
24% |
| South West |
1466 |
2022 |
38% |
| West Midlands |
416 |
560 |
35% |
| North West |
480 |
538 |
12% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber |
236 |
341 |
44% |
| East Midlands |
269 |
341 |
27% |
| Scotland |
177 |
152 |
-14%* |
| Wales |
89 |
106 |
19% |
| North East |
63 |
72 |
14% |
| Northern Ireland |
21 |
22 |
5% |
| Total |
19,408 |
22,586 |
16% |
In London, travel restrictions have limited overseas demand in the most central boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, the city of Westminster and Camden, where £1m-plus volumes were down 10% year-on-year, but leafier outer London boroughs benefitted from the search for more space both inside and out.
Cook added: “By the year end we now expect the number of £1m-plus sales agreed to exceed 2019 volumes – a performance nobody could have anticipated in the depths of lockdown.
“That said, recent evidence suggests fewer high value homes are now coming to the market, suggesting we may be hitting a high plateau.
“For many the challenge is now in getting deals through to completion by Christmas, after which point eyes will be on beating the March 31 stamp duty holiday deadline in order to benefit from the maximum £15,000 saving for those buying at this end of the market.”
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