Pure numpy
numpy.loadtxt(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=",", skiprows=1)
Check out the loadtxt documentation.
You can also use python's csv module:
import csv
import numpy
reader = csv.reader(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=",")
x = list(reader)
result = numpy.array(x).astype("float")
You will have to convert it to your favorite numeric type. I guess you can write the whole thing in one line:
result = numpy.array(list(csv.reader(open("test.csv", "rb"), delimiter=","))).astype("float")
Added Hint:
You could also use pandas.io.parsers.read_csv and get the associated numpy array which can be faster.