Who wants to be a property millionaire?

Most of the talk about the property market this year has been about the continued growth in house prices, which has delayed house ownership for many and put it completely out of reach of a few. Research has focused on the rising age of first time buyers, now at an average age of 33 when they get onto the property ladder. It has also looked at the rising number of people paying above the minimum Stamp Duty threshold and how some people believe they will never be able to own a home. There has even been research that showed that there is a generation of ‘parental renters’ – people with children who are still living with their own parents.

This is all worrying news, but the property boom has brought good fortune to some. There has been a 32 per cent increase in the number of property millionaires in the third quarter of 2006 compared to 2005, according to figures from the Portman Building Society. There are now 78,219 property millionaires. These are people whose property is worth over one million pounds.

Unsurprisingly, most of these are in London, which has nearly 60 per cent of the UK’s property millionaires. The South East has 24 per cent of the UK’s total. Outside London, property prices in Liverpool and Manchester have increased by 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, with the number of property millionaires rising from 1,874 in the third quarter of 2005 to 2,560 in the third quarter of 2006.

Property prices have risen in most regions, with a corresponding increase in the number of property millionaires. The exceptions were North Yorkshire and Humberside where prices fell and the number of property millionaires declined. So what’s the future for those nearing that million pound property threshold? Well, it’s very bright, especially for those living in London. Generous City bonuses and continued healthy property prices should mean that there are more property millionaires next year, in London at least.