Property millionaires on the rise

The number of property millionaires in the UK rose by almost 32 per cent in the third quarter of 2006 compared to a year earlier, figures from Portman Building Society reveal.

During the third quarter of this year, the number of property millionaires in England and Wales climbed to 78,219, compared to 59,400 a year earlier.

London continued to house the highest proportion of individuals who own estates worth more than £1 million, with nearly 60 per cent of the total living in the capital, a 38 per cent increase from 2005.

The second highest concentration of property millionaires was in the south-east, which boasted 19,040 by the third quarter of 2006.

The north-west, meanwhile, showed the second greatest increase in the number of property millionaires, after London, rising 37 per cent from 1,874 in the third quarter of 2005 to 2,560 in the third quarter of this year.

Nearly all of the regions of the UK followed this trend, with rises of 36 per cent in the West Midlands and 30 per cent in East Anglia, although North Yorkshire and Humberside saw drops as the average property selling prices for many towns in the region fell over the year.