Highs at the low end, and lows at the high end

Is it just us or is there a sudden coolness in the air? And we’re not talking weather. Take the example of three recent auctions where high end Dublin houses failed to sell. First there was Cuil Min, a five bed on Blackrock’s Sydney Avenue which Knight Frank brought to auction on September 18th with an AMV of €2.75 million. With no offers on the day, the house is back on myhome with an asking price of €3.25 million. Then last week, former Bank of Ireland chief Mike Somers’ Mespil Road home went for auction through Daphne Kaye with an AMV of €2.3m and was withdrawn. The three bed overlooking the Royal Canal is now asking €2.5 million. On the same day, 12 Orwell Park failed to sell at auction through DNG on an AMV of €1.75 million. The asking price hasn’t changed. If the first half of the year was characterised by some bonanza sale prices, it looks like the second half sees the market settling a bit more. Managing vendor expectations around prices for upper end homes is the challenge, and as one agent put it the “auction route is really only open to a 10 out of 10 house with a realistic reserve”. Take number 1 Holmpatrick Terrace in Skerries lwhich Lisney auctioned last week with an AMV of €1 million. Described as the best positioned house on the Sorrento Terrace of north Dublin, it sold for €1.5 million on the day. Meanwhile, at the far end of the market there was a distinct air of excitement at Ganly Walters’ auction room on Tuesday when a tumbledown stone cottage on Tara Hill in Wexford came up for auction with an AMV of €50,000. With standing room only at the Percy Place premises four bidders chased the tin-roofed property on an acre all the way up to €105,000. Never mind that the house has right of way issues, a well that needs sorting, and an outstanding land registry problem which the seller has been given a year to resolve. The canny buyer made his first bid the winning bid when the auctioneer declared the property officially on the market at €100,000.