The number of properties in the West Midlands worth more than £1 million has fallen during 2010 despite a country-wide siz per cent rise in seven-figure homes.

The West Midlands saw a 31 per cent slide in the number of homes in the £1 million price bracket, despite an estimated 12,811 homes breaking through the through the seven-figure threshold across Britain during the year – the equivalent of 35 a day.

The total number of homes worth at least £1 million across the country has now risen to 226,344, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

The group said one in every 118 homes in Great Britain was now worth at least £1 million, although this is still well down on the one in 97 properties that were worth this amount at the peak of the market in 2007.

But the research uncovered a stark north/south divide, with the number of homes in London, the South East and the East of England worth a seven-figure sum jumping by double digits during the year.

By contrast, the number of million pound properties in Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber has actually halved during the past 12 months.

Nick Leeming, of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “The North versus South wealth divide is now starker than ever. Property values have recovered well at the top end of the property market but the rest of the market and particularly the North have seen a steep decline in high-end property values.

“The prime market in the South has been impacted far less by the mortgage squeeze as a result of the inflow of foreign money and the strength in the City keeping demand for million pound pads at peak levels.”

London and the South East now account for four-fifths of all homes worth £1 million, following rises of 12 per cent and 11 per cent respectively in the number of properties valued at seven figures, while in the East the number increased by 15 per cent.

But in Yorkshire and the Humber the number of homes valued at this level dived by 52 per cent during the year, while Wales recorded a 49 per cent drop and in the North East and North West the number of £1 million homes fell by 39 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

The East Midlands recorded a 15 per cent drop, with Scotland seeing a 14 per cent fall. Wales continues to have the lowest level of homes worth seven figures, at just 578, followed by Yorkshire and Humber at 1,159. At the other end of the scale, there are more than 123,000 million pound homes in London and more than 56,000 in the South East.