Confirming other reports of a strong property market for the most sought-after UK residences, new research shows that the average asking price -  £6.78 million (around $10.48 million) - for houses valued at between £5 and £10 million rose by 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to a year before.

The research, which was published by Investec Specialist Private Bank, was based on a database of 21,877 properties on the market in the third quarter. PrimeLocation carried out the research for the bank on 3 October 2011.

The house price bracket which experienced the second largest increase in asking prices were those properties valued between £1 and £2 million, where prices rose by 1.43 per cent.

Other figures from property firms such as Knight Frank and Savills have shown that UK house prices in prime residential areas, especially London, have risen despite, or even because of, uncertainties in the rest of the country and further abroad. In many cases, demand for such residences stems from safe-haven purchasers from the Middle East, Russia and parts of Europe.

“Given the sustained demand for exclusive premier residences, we continue to see the prime sector outperform the overall UK residential market,” Andrew Smith, research director at PrimeLocation, said in the report.