It is a matter of the calm before the storm in Dublin's auction market as estate agents prepare for the main selling season which gets under way the week after Easter. Some of the best houses due to hit the market will be rolled out over the next few weeks. Most will go to auction though at least one very expensive one will be offered for sale by private treaty because of a degree of uncertainty at the top end of the market. The main agents are cautiously optimistic about the new season, but they still have the odd £1 million-plus property from last year hanging around like a post-auction millstone.

Vendors will obviously be monitoring how the early sales pan out before deciding whether to offload their homes. One noticeable change since last year is that even with the most expensive houses, sellers are nervous about buying before they have found a buyer for their own home. The overall effect is that agents are engaging in more behind the scenes wheeling and dealing and some of the younger ones who joined agencies in the booming 1990s are having to learn negotiating skills to shift even the best properties.