Sharp increase in sales of £1m-plus homes

Birmingham saw the second-largest increase in sales of £1m-plus homes last year, new data has revealed.

Across England and Wales, there was a 6% increase in sales of more than £1m in 2017. But Birmingham, which saw average house price growth of 5.5% last year, had a huge 86% increase in sales of £1m-plus homes.

Analysis by Knight Frank showed that although the majority of transactions took place in London and the South East, the largest increases in £1m sales were in markets outside of London’s traditional commuter zone.

Oliver Knight, from Knight Frank’s residential research team, said: “A rise in prime sales volumes over the past 12 months points to a relatively active market.

“But, as our analysis of Land Registry data – which allows us to look at the distribution of sales across the country – shows, the most notable rises in activity have come in prime markets outside of London and the traditional ‘commuter zone’.”

Sales of £1m-plus homes (Graphic: Knight Frank / Data: Land Registry)

Of places which recorded at least 20 high value sales, Birmingham was only beaten by Cheltenham, which recorded a 96% increase. North Hertfordshire, Woking and Wycombe were the other local authorities to see an increase of more than 50%.

In total, 18 local authorities outside of London recorded 100 or more £1m-plus transactions last year, up from 14 in 2016 – a list dominated by prime hotspots in the South East.