The number of properties worth more than £1 million has soared twenty-fold during the past decade.
There are now an estimated 66,600 homes in Britain worth at least seven figures, compared with just 3,400 in 1995, according to Halifax.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of homes commanding a £1 million-plus price tag are in Greater London, where there are an estimated 37,200 prop-erties - or 56 per cent of the national total.
More than 2,250 proper-ties changed hands for this sum in the capital during 2005, accounting for 58 per cent of £1 million sales across the country during the year.
But strong price growth in other regions has led to the proportion of seven-figure sales in the capital falling from 79 per cent of the total in 1995.
The group said in 2005 there were 788 properties sold for more than £1 million outside of London and the South-east, compared with just 22 in 1995 - a 36-fold increase.
Out of a total of 3,888 homes that changed hands for at least £1 million last year, 846 were in the South-east, while 278 were in the East and 171 were in the South West.
But at the other end of the scale, just eight properties were sold for at least seven figures in Wales, while the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber did not fare much better at 17 and 27 respectively. The West Midlands scored fairly low, with 41 homes over £1 million sold over 2005.
One in three homes sold for at least a million pounds was in the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.
These two boroughs have consistently topped the league for £1 million-plus sales, accounting for 36 per cent of all homes changing hands for this sum.
Top West Midlands districts included Birmingham, with nine properties sold, Stratford-upon-Avon with four and Warwick with three. Other districts include Wandsworth and Richmond upon Thames.
