SALES of properties worth at least £1million saw a slight fall in Suffolk last year – bucking the national trend as UK figures reached a pre-recession high, a study has revealed.

Transactions of properties valued at £1m or more rose from 7,270 in 2011 to 7,397 last year in the UK, reaching the highest level since the height of the housing boom in 2007, according to Lloyds TSB figures released today.

But the trend reversed in Suffolk, with 26 sales in 2011 slipping to 23 last year.

St Edmundsbury saw the biggest fall, from seven to three, while Forest Heath reported the largest increase, from zero to four.

Suffolk Coastal had the highest number of sales in both years, but still saw a drop from 11 to eight, while there was just a single million-pound property sale in Ipswich in both years.

Carl Eastwood, partner at Strutt & Parker in Ipswich, said a combination of an increase in stamp duty and a residual effect of the recession may have contributed to the fall.

But he suggested people should not read too much into the figures.

“It is not a dramatic fall – I am not worried by these figures,” he added. “But the high end of the market has been one of the worst hit following the recession.

“Stamp duty has gone up to 5% and although people buying million-pound homes can afford the extra per cent, I think there is real resentment over hidden tax charges. But I think these stats may increase as the sector gets stronger.”