Fall in number of £2m-plus house sales

Sales of top-end homes plunged by 40 per cent as the Chancellor introduced a stamp duty hike on properties worth more than £2m, new data revealed today.

By The Newsroom

Published 3rd Jul 2012, 07:00 BST

The number of houses sold for more than £2m in March, the latest month for which the figures are available, dropped to 124 from 205 the previous year, the Land Registry said.

A seven per cent stamp duty rate was imposed on homes in this bracket towards the end of March, causing estate agents to warn that some property chains will crumble as a result.

Elsewhere, the Land Registry said average house prices in May in England and Wales rose 0.5 per cent month-on-month to £161,677.

The region that experienced the highest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months is London with a movement of 7.7 per cent.

Yorkshire & The Humber experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 3.9 per cent.