£1m homes club grows by 50 a day

Fifty people are becoming property millionaires every day because of the housing boom, a report said.

Soaring prices mean the number of homes worth at least £1million has risen by a third over the past year to a record 80,000. In some hot-spots, property values have soared 55 per cent in 12 months.

A decade ago, just 3,400 people owned homes with seven-figure asking prices. Now more than 78,000 homeowners can make this boast in England and Wales, according to the Portman. The building society's figures are based on valuations and do not take into account how much money is owed on a property.

The big winners were those in the South who bought homes before prices took off in 1996.

Matthew Wyles, of the Portman, said: 'London and the South East continue to dominate the league table of property millionaires. City bonuses have been generous and plentiful in recent years and much of this wealth has poured into residential property.'

In 1996 the average home was worth £60,000 compared with £185,000 today. In the exclusive London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the average asking price is now more than £1million, according to Rightmove, a property website.

A first-time buyer wanting to join the millionaire bracket would need to meet monthly mortgage repayments of more than £7,000 – based on interest rates of 7 per cent and a 25-year term.