£1m house sales go through the roof

• This house in Dick Place shows buoyancy in the Edinburgh market

But for the super-rich, signs are emerging that things are on the up - at least when it comes to the housing market.

Surprising new figures have revealed that million-pound property sales in Scotland have soared by almost half in the past year, suggesting that the wealthy are once again finding the confidence to enter the property merry-go-round.

Figures released by Savills show 136 homes worth 1 million or more were sold between January and November 2010, compared to only 97 during the same period in 2009 - a rise of 47 per cent.

High-end properties in Edin-burgh, Perthshire and St And-rews continue to be among the most sought after, while country estates are also enjoying an upturn in demand.

Savills director Jamie Macnab said: "These figures are a far cry from the peak of the market in 2007 when there were more than 260 sales over a million pounds in Scotland. However, the increase on last year is significant and shows a returning confidence in the market at the top end."

Tony Perriam, a director of Rettie & Co said. "We have seen an unexpected and very welcome recovery in the high end property market. Between September and December Rettie & Co sold 15 properties within Edinburgh within that bracket."

Almost half the million- pound homes sold were in Edinburgh - however Aberdeenshire saw its first 2m sale last year and a mansion house in Ayrshire sold in less than four weeks, having achieved over the asking price of 1.2m.

In June a Canadian businessman bought 9 The Links in St Andrews for 4m. The house, which overlooks the 18th hole of the Old Course broke records for the highest price per square foot ever achieved for a house in Scotland.

In Edinburgh, millionaire writer JK Rowling relocated from Merchiston to a western suburb of the city while former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin relocated from the Grange to a 3.5m mansion in Colinton.

As well as high-end houses, country estates have also enjoyed a new boom. In December it was announced that a buyer has been found for the 7,360 acre Mull of Kintyre estate; the landscape which inspired Paul McCartney was sold for almost 3m.

Robert McCulloch, of Strutt and Parker, who sold the Mull of Kintyre estate, said: "Properties of between 500,000 and 1m are selling well - but between 1m and 3m there is much less competition than before so they are taking longer to sell."

Mr Macnab said: "We saw a significant increase in the number of committed buyers with budgets above 1m at the end of 2010. Whilst they were all looking to buy at a discount - generally 15 per cent to 20 per cent below the asking price - they had funds in place and were prepared to push purchases through.

"We are optimistic that the market will be even more active in 2011, particularly if sellers are realistic about their expectations in the coming year."