The number of property sales worth at least a million pounds has risen to its highest level since the peak of the housing market in Scotland in 2008, according to new research by Bank of Scotland.

There were 60 million pound property sales in Scotland in the first half of 2011. This is the largest total since 2008 (90) and 22% higher than in the same period in 2010 (49). Across the UK, million pound property sales have increased by 10% over the past year.

The 22% increase in million pound home sales in the first half of the year was in marked contrast to the 12% fall in residential property sales as a whole over the period.

Despite this notable outperformance, million pound sales continue to account for a very minor proportion of the Scottish housing market, representing just 0.2% of total sales in the first half of the year. Million pound sales account for only 1.1% of all sales in the UK.

There are now an estimated 3,300 homes in Scotland worth at least one million pounds.