Research by Henry Dannell, the leading specialist in bespoke mortgage solutions, has revealed how London remains the nation’s million pound property market hotspot despite a tough year that saw the capital trail the rest of the UK where house price appreciation is concerned.
Henry Dannell analysed property market transactions over the last year looking at what percentage of homes sold in each region came in at £1m or more.
The research shows that across England and Wales there have been 13,018 properties purchased at £1m or more so far in 2021. This equates to just 3% of the 472,964 residential transactions to have completed across the entire market.
However, the London market is home to by far the highest level of transactions taking place at £1m or more. 6,312 transactions took place last year at this price threshold, 12% of all market activity seen across the London market.
The South East saw the second highest level of £1m plus transactions but trails the capital considerably, with these sales accounting for just 4% of total market activity, followed by the East of England (2%) and the South West (2%).
Kensington and Chelsea remains the jewel in the crown of the London property market. 59% of all homes sold across the borough in 2021 did so for £1m or more.
Westminster saw the second largest level of £1m plus market activity, with 44% of all homes sold in the borough doing so at or above this price threshold.
Camden takes the third spot with 37% of homes sold going for £1m or more, with Hammersmith and Fulham (34%) and Richmond (29%) also ranking in the top five.
In contrast, not a single transaction registered across Barking and Dagenham was at or above £1m in 2021, with Newham also seeing just 0.3% of all transactions take place at this tier of the market.
Director of Henry Dannell, Geoff Garrett, commented:
“Although the London market has generally trailed much of the UK where top line property price appreciation is concerned, it remains the predominant market for property purchases at one million pounds or more by quite some margin.
While the pandemic and ongoing advice to work from home has dented the appetites of domestic London buyers to a certain extent, a consistent stream of foreign interest has slowly been building across the top tier of the London market.
Of course, these transactions only account for a small proportion of total market activity but this early sign of market confidence amongst high end buyers bodes very well for the year ahead.”
