It may be built on the most expensive sand dunes in the world, but are there signs that Poole’s premier location is growing more than spiky marram grass?

Are the famous green shoots of recovery spreading among Sandbank’s multi-million-pound pads or is it just down to the bouncy nature of estate agents?

Yes they are and no it’s not – according to partner Adrian Dunford of Tailor Made estate agents in Banks Road, who are selling properties ranging from £250,000 apartments to £8 million luxury homes.

“The green shoots of recovery?

“Absolutely,” he said.

“Will it be sustainable? Well, it started getting busy for us in December.”

Their busiest December ever saw 18 houses sold and although there was a little dip during spring, it picked up again at Easter and they had a very busy bank holiday, showing potential buyers around homes from £2 million to £3.5m, he said.

Millionaire’s Row agents are in a rather different position from those in other parts of credit crunch Britain, in that most buyers are from out of the area and most offer cash.

“Of the 30 deals in the last three months, only two needed a mortgage, the rest were cash,” he said.

Buyers are still looking to get a good deal but the supply of luxury homes is not endless.

“We are now running out of stock,” he said.

“Half-a-million-pound apartments are thin on the ground.

“The ones on the beach are all gone apart from one.” And that shortage, with developers not building at present, could in future mean a rise in prices, he said.

“If there’s nothing to sell and there’s a demand, that fuels the market.”

So Sandbanks’ most well known resident, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, could yet find himself living alongside Russian oil magnates and top celebrities. TV presenters Tess Daly and Vernon Kaye were spotted soaking up the sun last month, Russian singer Valeriya and American rock star Lenny Kravitz were both said to be house hunting and Gordon Ramsay has been seen in the area several times.