The number of properties worth at least £1 million in the West Midlands has plummeted by a third last year – despite an overall rise elsewhere.

Estate agents said today owners of high priced properties were holding on to their assets rather than selling them at a reduced rate following the recession.

An estimated 12,811 homes broke through the seven-figure threshold during the year — the equivalent of 35 a day — to bring the total number of homes worth at least £1 million to 226,344.

Property website Zoopla.co.uk 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 market peak 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 the West Midlands has  fallen 31 per cent in a year.

Caroline Eaton, of Berriman Eaton, said: “In our part of the region we’ve had an increase in houses worth more than £1m.

“We are finding that people who have money and do not have to move because of redundancy or divorce are more likely to hold on to their asset.

“They may have bought the property at a time when the mortgage was based on four times their income but they can’t get that any more if they want to move.”

Areas like Tettenhall, Wightwick, Claverley, Lower Penn and Wombourne are where many million pound homes can be found.

One of the most expensive homes in Berriman Eaton’s portfolio is a £1.3m five-bedroom house in Pattingham Road, Perton Ridge.