#9 One-fifth of all London property is sold for over a million pound

The latest research conducted by London's Benham and Reeves, a lettings and estate agency, has unveiled a striking trend in the capital's property market. In 2023, one-fifth of all homes sold in London have achieved a price tag of ￡1 million or more, making it the city with the highest proportion of such premium property sales compared to other major cities in England and Wales.

Benham and Reeves conducted an analysis of property sales data from the Land Registry for the period from January to August 2023 across 12 major cities. They specifically examined the percentage of sales exceeding ￡1 million, the average selling price, and the overall value of these high-end property transactions.

While London has experienced a -0.8% decline in annual house price growth, making it one of only three regions to see a year-on-year decrease, it remains a dominant player in the market for homes sold at ￡1 million or more.

According to Benham and Reeves' research, a total of 3,716 properties in London have been sold for ￡1 million or higher in 2023, representing 21.1% of all completed property sales in the capital.

Bristol ranks as the city with the second-highest number of ￡1 million property transactions, with 86 homes in this category. However, they account for just 1.9% of the total homes sold.

Other cities in the top five include Sheffield (0.9%), Newcastle (0.6%), and Leeds (0.6%), although ￡1 million property sales make up less than 1% of all transactions in these areas in 2023.

In addition to leading in terms of the median sold price, London also tops the list in the total value of ￡1 million property sales. Homes surpassing the ￡1 million threshold have commanded an average price of ￡1.45 million, which significantly exceeds the London market's average of ￡565,000.

Collectively, ￡1 million properties in London have achieved a combined value of ￡312.2 million, with Bristol ranking second, albeit considerably behind London, at a total value of ￡156.1 million.

Marc von Grundherr, Director of Benham and Reeves, shared his insights on the findings, emphasising London's continued dominance in high-end property sales. He noted that despite the city's overall housing market underperformance in terms of price growth, demand for premium properties has remained robust, particularly among foreign buyers. In essence, London's property market may lack in quantity, but it certainly excels in quality when it comes to these high-value transactions.

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