MAYBE the region’s millionaires are finally feeling the pinch because latest stats show that the number of £1m properties sold last year in the North West fell by 20%.

Currently there appears to be six apartments in the city centre more than £1m, 125 properties across Lancashire and a whopping 481 in Cheshire.

It was the second highest fall of anywhere in the UK - a bit of a surprise given the high number of Premiership footballers and Rich List entrants.

Only the West Midlands saw a bigger decline at the very top of the market.

In the North West, 92 homes were sold for more than £1m in 2011 compared with 115 in 2010.

Nationally, the overall total declined by five per cent from 7,256 to 6,911, compared with a 55 per cent increase in 2010. It was the first annual fall in £1m sales since 2009.

Sales of homes worth more than £2m continued to grow, according to the research by Lloyds TSB which said there were an estimated 165,000 homes in Britain worth at least £1m.

Currently there appears to be six apartments in the city centre more than £1m, 125 properties across Lancashire and a whopping 481 in Cheshire. Even given that some houses are listed several times with different agents that’s still a lot of expensive pads looking for a buyer.

Multi-million pound property sales rose to their highest level on record in 2011.

There were 1,518 property sales nationally worth at least £2m in 2011, a rise of 5 per cent from 1,442 sales in 2010.

Over three-quarters of all £2m plus sales in 2011 were in London and more than half of these took place in three boroughs – Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden.

The number of properties selling for more than £5m rose by 22 per cent from 128 in 2010 to 156 in 2011 which Lloyds said provided further evidence of the strength of sales at the very top end of the market.