More homes on 'millionaires' row'

There has been a sharp rise in houses selling for £1m or more

Sales of £1m properties in Scotland rose by 138% in 2007, according to research from the Bank of Scotland.

Although they far outstripped the 3% rise in total property sales, £1m properties accounted for just 0.2% of all Scottish property sales in 2007.

In 2006, 144 £1m properties were sold in Scotland, but that rose to 343 £1m properties in 2007.

Edinburgh came second only to London in the number of properties being sold for £1m or more last year.

It also saw a 30% increase in the number of homes being sold for £2m or more. However, the capital's overall share of million pound homes in Scotland has gone down.

Figures show that there has been a seven-fold increase in the number of £1m property sales in Scotland since 2003, while there has been a nine-fold increase in the number of properties selling for £2m or more.

Total £1m property sales in Great Britain rose by 36% in 2007, to 8,257.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Bank of Scotland, said: "Although there has been a marked increase in the number of million pound property sales in Scotland since 2003, Edinburgh continues to account for the significant majority of £1m sales.

"Nonetheless, Edinburgh's share of all million pound property sales has declined over recent years, with a number of million pound property clusters starting to appear across Scotland around places like Glasgow and Perth and Kinross."