Image copyright PA Image caption A total of 6,684 houses sold for at least £1 million in the first half of 2016, according to Lloyds Bank

The number of houses sold for at least £1 million has risen by 12% in the first half of 2016 compared with the previous year, a report has suggested.

But the average price of a top-end property is less than it was two years ago, according to Lloyds Bank.

It found the average price of a home sold above £1m has dropped by £135,251 between 2014 and 2016.

The bank said the price drop was partly due to a reduction in sales at the higher end of the market.

The research found 6,684 homes were sold for at least £1m during the first six months of 2016, a 12% rise on the 5,946 sold in the same period in 2015.

The report said the average price of a property selling for more than £1m had dropped from £1,862,578 to £1,727,327 over a two-year period.

Changes in stamp duty in late 2014 made it more expensive for buyers to purchase a home which was worth more than £937,500.

The bank found north-east England had the biggest rise in the number of million-pound property sales with an 83% increase - due to 11 purchases.

The largest number of purchases took place in London where there were 4,238 sales of million-pound properties.

Scotland was the only part of Britain where sales of houses above the £1m mark have fallen over the last year with a 33% decline, according to Lloyds Bank.