Sales of houses worth £1m have risen in the UK - but have fallen in London

The number of homes worth a million pounds or more that have been sold nationally has reached a record high - despite a fall in London.

In total, the number of sales of houses valued at £1m or more increased by 1% in 2018 to a new high of 14,638 - which is the highest number recorded, according to Lloyds Bank.

The number of homes sold for more than £2m was down though, from 2,530 in 2017 to 2,501 in 2018.

The rise in numbers of £1m homes was seen in Scotland, Wales, the Midlands and in the north of England, according to Lloyds, which analysed Land Registry and Registers of Scotland figures.

However, sales in London and the South East remained relatively flat, despite making up around 80% of the sales for homes worth over £1m.

8,267 million pound homes were sold in London in 2018 - down from 8,308 in 2017.

The capital also saw a 3% fall in the sales of homes worth more than £2m, from 1,946 to 1,886 over the course of a year.

:: Listen to the New Lines podcast on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The South East showed no major growth in the sale of million pound homes, with 3,390 being sold, which is only 13 more than than the year before.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the number of million pound homes sold dramatically fell by 23% year-on-year in 2018, with only 103 sales made.

The south-west of England saw a 1% fall from 676 homes in 2017 to 668 in 2018.

Louise Santaana from Lloyds Bank said: "The high-value property boom the country has experienced over the last decade has decelerated in the past 12 months, which is in line with expectations.

"However, while growth across London and the South East has slowed, there are still a number of property hotspots across the country that would create some value for investors, particularly in the East Midlands."