SO, Worcestershire is fast becoming a magnet for the £1m home-buying set.

According to leading local estate agent Andrew Grant, his agency has become overrun with potential buyers with pots of cash to spend.

More than 350 are on his books looking for the right home in the top price bracket.

There was a time, of course, when the prospect of buying a £1m house was out of the reach of all but the super-rich.

After years of rapid house price inflation, however, these days such homes are well within the grasp of the affluent middle classes.

Is this a good thing? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it shows our county has a lot to offer and can attract wealthy people able to make a contribution to Worcestershire's economic and social well-being.

According to Mr Grant, a fair proportion of those looking for £1m homes are from Birmingham, London and the South East.

Others are, he says, local people who've "done good".

The downside is, of course, that the more people there are looking for homes at the top end of the housing market, the more prices go up across the board.

Competition among buyers drives up prices - and those price rises will, eventually, filter down to all levels.

There are few enough affordable homes for first-time buyers in the county as it is - so we would treat any news of an influx of big-money buyers with a fair dollop of caution.