Total number of £1m homes now nearly 400,000

Nearly 93,000 more home-owners have become “property millionaires” in Britain over the last year, research from a website has found.

The total number of homes valued at £1 million plus by Zoopla.co.uk this month has grown by almost one third (31%) compared with a year ago to reach 393,127.

Zoopla said that continued strong demand for prime residential property throughout 2013 has created 92,985 more property millionaires in Britain over the past 12 months.

Three-fifths (61%) of million pound plus properties were found to be in London. Property prices in the English capital have consistently surged ahead of the rest of the country this year, prompting some concerns that the market there is overheating.

The Government recently announced plans for non-UK residents to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on property sales from April 2015. Much of the strong demand in the London market has been put down to wealthy overseas buyers looking for a safe haven to put their cash.

The exclusive borough of Kensington and Chelsea was named by Zoopla as home to the highest number of property millionaires totalling 41,393. 

Outside London, 21,028 more property millionaires were created in the South East during the past year, bringing the total to 82,614. The highest proportion of property millionaires outside the capital can be found in the Surrey postcode area of GU25 covering Virginia Water, where almost one third (32%) of homes were found to be worth over £1 million.

On a regional level, Wales was found to be home to the fewest property millionaires in Britain, numbering just over 1,000 in total but still up by one quarter (24%) on 2012.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk said: “While Government schemes such as Help to Buy have concentrated popular attention on the lower rungs of the property ladder this year, there’s been a hive of activity propelling house price gro03 wth at the top-end of the market.”

 

:: Here is the number of property millionaires by region, according to Zoopla.co.uk:

1. London, 239,703

2. South East England, 82,614 

3. East of England, 28,128 

4. South West England, 13,960 

5. North West England, 7,043 

6. West Midlands, 5,418 

7. Scotland, 8,161 

8. East Midlands, 2,667 

9. North East England, 2,574 

10. Yorkshire and the Humber, 1,814 

11. Wales, 1,043 

:: Total 393,127 

Property asking price discounts falling in UK house market

•             Proportion of discounted properties for sale falls from 37% to 32% over past 12 months

•             Average asking price discount falls to 6.3%, down from 7.6% twelve months ago

•             North lags South with biggest discounts in Barnsley, Rotherham and Wakefield

•             London, Edinburgh and Wolverhampton have lowest level of property discounts

•             Poole has highest average discounts on offer to original asking prices

In another strong sign that the UK property market has entered recovery mode, research released today by property website Zoopla reveals that the number of properties available for sale that have been discounted and the amount of the discount offered from the original asking price have both fallen sharply over the past twelve months.

The proportion of properties on the market in the UK today with an asking price that has been reduced at least once has fallen from 37% one year ago to 32% today. And the average discount to the original asking price has come down from 7.6% last August to only 6.3% now. The North-South property divide remains clearly evident in the Zoopla research, showing all of the top ten areas with the highest proportion of discounted properties being in the North and nine of the top ten areas with the biggest discounts on offer also being in the North. 42.7% of properties currently for sale in Barnsley have had their asking price reduced at least once since being put on the market, with Rotherham (42.3%) and Wakefield (42.1%) not far behind. 

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk comments: “A fall in the proportion and level of asking price discounts suggests sellers are feeling more confident and happy to wait it out to achieve their target asking price. First-time buyers are finally getting a look-in due to improved mortgage availability which in turn is lifting the whole market. Banks, sellers and buyers are all more bullish about the state of the economy, which bodes well for the months ahead. And the Bank of England’s forward guidance on interest rates has generated a greater sense of certainty about the future, which should lead to even more activity.”

Top 5 Areas with Highest Proportion of Asking Price Reductions

Rank	Area	% of Homes on Market Reduced	Avg. Price Reduction (%)	Avg. Price Reduction (£)
1	Barnsley	42.7%	8.1%	£11,663
2	Rotherham	42.3%	7.4%	£10,941
3	Wakefield	42.1%	7.2%	£14,029
4	Wigan	40.8%	7.5%	£11,969
5	Sunderland	40.2%	8.0%	£12,157

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (August 2013)

Top 5 Areas with Biggest Asking Price Reductions

Rank	Area	Avg. Price Reduction (%)	Avg. Price Reduction (£)	% of Homes on Market Reduced
1	Poole	9.9%	£51,835	29.3%
2	Liverpool	8.2%	£13,664	37.8%
3	Doncaster	8.2%	£14,186	39.1%
4	Barnsley	8.1%	£11,663	42.7%
5	Bolton	8.1%	£14,945	34.1%

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (August 2013)

Top 5 Areas with Lowest Proportion of Asking Price Reductions

Rank	Area	% of Homes on Market Reduced	Avg. Price Reduction (%)	Avg. Price Reduction (£)
1	London	22.8%	7.3%	£66,575
2	Edinburgh	27.7%	5.3%	£14,722
3	Wolverhampton	29.1%	5.4%	£12,064
4	Bournemouth	29.1%	7.5%	£27,754
5	Poole	29.3%	9.9%	£51,835

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (August 2013)

Top 5 Areas with Smallest Asking Price Reductions

Rank	Area	Avg. Price Reduction (%)	Avg. Price Reduction (£)	% of Homes on Market Reduced
1	Edinburgh	5.3%	£14,722	27.7%
2	Swindon	5.3%	£10,665	32.9%
3	Ipswich	5.4%	£13,677	37.7%
4	Wolverhampton	5.4%	£12,064	29.0%
5	Milton Keynes	5.5%	£14,935	30.0%

Source: Zoopla.co.uk (August 2013)

The Premier League of Property revealed

MANCHESTER United may be the reigning Premiership champions but in the Premier League of Property they are firmly mid-table.

As the Premiership season approaches House Price UK has unveiled the Property Premier League table - revealing the house prices in the streets around the stadiums of the top division's 20 sides.
It will come as no surprise to see London dominating  - taking the top six places when it comes to average house prices.
Fulham come top the pile thanks to their position in the swanky West End of London.
Average prices around the ground are a whopping £677,161 - narrowly pipping Arsenal to the title with Chelsea coming in third.
Manchester United come eighth in the table with average homes in their district at   £170,801 although they have the consolation of finishing well above their city rivals at the Eitiad Stadium.
In the relegation zone Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton occupy the bottom two places with the Blues propping up the table with average prices at £71,955 - more than £600,000 less than the table toppers at Craven Cottage.
But Fulham can't sit on their laurels as House Price UK will track the fastest growing areas over the next 10 months - crowning the champions in May.
Richie Richards, from @HousePriceUK, said: "The top positions of the Property Premier League were always going to be dominated by the London clubs. I expected a two horse battle between West London clubs Fulham and Chelsea given their prime postcodes so I was surprised to Arsenal edge ahead of their rivals in Stamford Bridge.
"The table highlights the gulf in prices in London with average homes around Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park a full £450,000 cheaper cheaper than those in the vicinity of Fulham's Craven Cottage.
"At the other end of the table Merseyside giants Everton and Liverpool are playing in a different league, scraping just above the £70,000 mark.
"The good news is that there is everything to play for over the next 10 months. The champions will be decided by which club sees the biggest percentage rise in house prices between now and May.
"While London's prices have rocketed over the past 12 months it could now be the chance for other regions to play catch up with a traditional lag between price movement in the capital and the rest of the UK.
"Most regions are covered in the Premier League mix this year from Southampton on the South coast to Newcastle in the North, Swansea in the West to Norwich in the East.
"The success or failure of teams will reflect how that region has performed over the season.
"Like the actual Premiership it is hard to predict a winner and I expect it to be a close run thing.
"The champion will be revealed on @housepriceuk and housepriceuk9.blogspot.co.uk next May. Good luck to all the teams."

Property Premier League (position, team, postcode, average sold prices, increase/decrease)
1: Fulham, SW6 6NP, £677,161, up £45,743 (7.4%)
2: Arsenal, N5, £645,467 up £19,398 (3.1%)
3: Chelsea, SW6 1HS, £541,642, up £36,490 (7.25%)
4: Tottenham Hotspur, N17, £236,894, up £4,905 (2.11%)
5: West Ham United, E6, £226,364, up £3,057 (1.37%)
6: Crystal Palace,  SE 25, £222,274 up £9,200 (4.32%)
7:Southampton, SO14, £173,714, down £2,699 (-1.53%)
8: Manchester United, M16, £170,801, up £218 (0.13%)
9: Cardiff, CF11, £168,165 up £1,085 (0.64%)
10: Norwich City, NR 1, £165,591, up £260 (0.16%)
11: Newcastle United, NE 1, £140,028, up £299 (0.21%)
12: West Bromwich Albion, B71, £123,804, up £1,052 (0.86%)
13: Swansea City, SA 1, £111,409, down £3,852 (3.34%)
14: Stoke City, ST4, £108,602, up £581, (0.54%)
15: Manchester City, M11, £98,175, up £657 (0.67%)
16: Aston Villa, B6, £92,956 up £1,067 (1.16%)
17: Sunderland , SR5, £89,624, down £6,446 (-6.7%)
18: Hull City, HU3, £78,573, up £3,450, (4.5%)
19: Liverpool, L4 Anfield, £74,866, up £1,415 (1.95%)

20 Everton, L4, £71,955, up £1,556 (2.21%)

Figures from Zoopla's ZED Index. The Zed-Index is the average property value in a given area based on current Zoopla Estimates. 

Top 10 most expensive UK streets

ZOOPLA PROPERTY RICH LIST 2013 REVEALED

Britain now home to 8,230 streets with average property value over £1m

•             Number of Million Pound Streets in Britain rises 23% over past 12 months

•             There are now 323,684 homes worth over £1m in Britain - up 32% from 2012

•             Kensington Palace Gardens named again as Britain’s most expensive street

•             Kensington and Knightsbridge named as most expensive neighbourhood

•             Floor space the size of an average doormat worth £3,586 in Kensington

Top 10 most expensive UK streets

1	Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8	£36,066,148
2	The Boltons, London SW10	£23,375,758
3	Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X	£19,768,963
4	Courtenay Avenue, London N6	£10,750,336
5	Compton Avenue, London N6	£10,006,014
6	Frognal Way, London NW3	£9,513,716
7	Park Place Villas, London W2	£8,980,477
8	Montrose Place, London SW1X	£8,980,468
9	Cottesmore Gardens, London W8	£8,813,429
10	Palace Green, London W8	£8,644,535
11	Highest value towns

	Town	Zed-Index
1	Virginia Water, Surrey	£1,034,368
2	Cobham, Surrey	£842,806
3	Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire	£806,459
4	Keston, London	£785,399
5	Esher, Surrey	£774,265
6	Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire	£754,779
7	Richmond, Surrey	£718,229
8	Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire	£717,319
9	Radlett, Hertfordshire	£691,211
10	Welwyn, Hertfordshire	£687,558