New research from Halifax reveals that million pound property sales across Britain in the first half of 2005 were 26% lower than in the first six months of 2004.

Scotland bucked the national trend with 40 million pound property sales in the first half of 2005 compared with 18 in the first half of 2004.

There were also small increases in North East (+1), West Midlands (+2) and East Midlands (+1).

Halifax said that 1,508 million pound properties were sold in Britain during the first six months of 2005 compared to 2,033 properties in the first six months of 2004.

Of the areas which did worse, the biggest falls were in Greater London (-366) and the South East (-153), which combined accounted for 99% of the overall decline in sales nationally (519 out of 525).

There were also modest declines in the South West (-5), North West (-4), East (-14), Wales (-1) and Yorkshire & the Humber (-8).

Outside of London and the South East, the local authority areas of Poole in the South West and Midlothian in Scotland had the highest number of sales over £1 million in the first half of 2005.

Martin Ellis, Chief Economist at the Halifax, commented: “There has been a further significant increase in sales above the £1 million mark in Scotland, reflecting the ongoing strength of the market north of the border. Nationally the uppermost sector of the residential property market has held up relatively well with the 26% fall in sales of million pound properties comparing with a 36% decline in total house sales between the first halves of 2004 and 2005.”