Number of property millionaires tumbles

...but 670,000 homes still top £1m

THE number of property millionaires is still nearly a third higher than in 2019 despite falling back from its pandemic peak, according to data.

The total number of homes in Britain worth at least £1m sat at 670,101 last year, 8.3pc lower than in 2022 but still 29pc higher than before the pandemic, estate agent Savills said.

Large increases in pricey properties over the last five years have been mainly seen outside of London as aspiring homeowners fled cities in a ‘race for space’ that pushed up costs in more idyllic rural areas.

Wales has seen its number of £1m homes more than double to 4,239 since 2019 while the south west experienced an 81pc increase to 45,735.

Other areas to experience large surges in value included Scotland, the east Midlands and the north east of england.

But over the last year, rising interest rates and the cost- ofliving squeeze have put the brakes on demand. Buyers have less cash to spare and banks made mortgage borrowing more expensive.

Savills said that the £1m home market is worth £1.32 trillion, down from £1.43 trillion in 2022.

Unsurprisingly, London continued to dominate in terms of high- value homes, with its 330,668 properties worth over £1m accounting for almost half of the national total.

The capital also managed to withstand the wider decline in value, seeing just a 4pc decrease in property millionaires last year compared to a 13pc drop in the surrounding south east region.

Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: ‘Increased mortgage costs, and a rebalancing of demand back to city living, have meant about 30pc of those whose homes crossed the £1m threshold, have, for the time being at least, become aspiring million-pound homeowners once again.’

The decline at the top end of the property market follows data from the Office for national Statistics last week that revealed house prices in november had fallen at their fastest rate since 2011.

The typical home was worth £285,000 – £6,000 lower than a year earlier.

But last week, estate agent Knight Frank predicted house prices would rise 3pc this year following what it said was a significant drop in mortgage rates over the last three months.