"While we don't get the tissues out for those struggling to sell their £3m homes, it will hit the wider market," he said referring to the Chancellor's hike in stamp duty in December 2014 that raised the levy on high-value home sales.

"A slowdown starts in luxury London and traditionally ripples out. It might not get to Shropshire until next spring but it will get there," he said.

One central London estate agent told the Telegraph this week that "prices needed to come down at the top end of the market by up to 30pc in some cases".

According to Mr Pryor, such price falls impact the 'bank of mum and dad' and how much they then lend to their offspring buying in areas like Brixton and Clapham, for example.

"The infection from luxury to mainstream is much more transferable than anyone imagines, and these are the reasons why I am troubled by the Land Registry figures," he said.

A fall in sales

The Land Registry data also revealed a fall in the number of completed house sales in England and Wales in January fell by 5pc to 54,254 compared with 56,937 in January 2015.

This dispels reports that there was a rush to buy a second home or a buy-to-property ahead of April - when the Chancellor introduced a 3pc increase in stamp duty on these two buyer tribes.

"We were expecting higher transaction levels in the first three months of the year as the stamp duty deadline approaches. But with the number of completed house sales in England and Wales falling by 5pc in January compared with the same month last year, there does not seem to have been the stampede that many expected," said Jeremy Leaf, former chairman of Rics (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors).