As the autumn selling season draws to a close in the capital, there’s certainly a nip in the air that’s in stark contrast to the overheated spring season that went before.

A sure indicator of a slight cooling off is in Ranelagh – that normal hotbed of heady transactions – where two properties went for auction recently and failed to sell.

Tara, at 26C Oakley Road, is a three-bedroom end-of-terrace redbrick of about 965sq m (1,033 sq ft) that originally came to the market with an AMV of €600,000 through agents Lisney. It failed to sell at auction in mid-October and was put back on the market for sale by private treaty with an asking price of €600,000 through the same agents. Currently there are three parties bidding on it, says David Byrne, director at Lisney.

Lisney brought 83 properties to auction this year and sold 48 (or 58 per cent) at or immediately after auction. Fifty-five of the 83 properties were sold in the spring/ summer season which runs from February to July.

Elsewhere, 54 Sandford Road, a double-fronted end-of-terrace property on the corner of Sandford Road and Marlborough Road came to market last May asking €900,000 through Hunters Estate Agent.

The 282sq m (3,039 sq ft) property divided into 11 bedsit units moved agencies last September and was entered into the Allsop Space sale with a reserve of €840,000. It failed to sell.

The property now goes forward to their next residential auction on Thursday, December 11th, with a reserve price not to exceed €700,000.

Jonathan Fenn of Allsop Space says since the catalogue went live there have been seven or eight downloads of the legal documents for No 54 from the website.