CityLiving: Almost everyone putting an upmarket period home on the market this spring will be delighted with the results.

Despite talk that the market was set for a slowdown the initial signs are of rising demand along with prices, at least in the €1 million plus bracket.

The season has only really stated in earnest but already the patterns are becoming clear. About 13 per cent of all homes are now being sold though auction compared with 7 per cent last year, according to Gunnes.

Early signs are that there seems to be no end of the appetite for Dublin 6 redbricks while Dublin 4 is retaining its favoured status. It is still very early to be clear about prices but so far these homes have seen price rises of between 10 and 15 per cent. However, every year homes that come on the market early get strong prices because there is so little choice. And agents say they do not expect this level of increase to prevail over the next few months.

Simon Ensor of Sherry Fitzgerald says the top priority for most families looking to move, is a home within striking distance of the city centre and close to good schools.

The Luas has done wonders for homes in its vicinity particularly in Dublin 6, says Clodagh Murphy of Gunnes. Many homes are seeing up to 100 viewers at the weekend, well up on the end of last year.

Last week a three-bed house on Oakley Road in Ranelagh very close to the Luas went for €1.7 million having guided €1.1 million. Another well presented three bed on Northbrook Road in Ranelagh went for €1.7 million. "We thought that if it went well it would go for €1.5 million," says Ensor.

A six-bedroom double fronted Edwardian redbrick on Bushy Park Rd, Rathgar was sold after auction for over €3 million.

And the pattern continued in Dublin 4 where a five bedroom on Ailsbury Park which was guiding at €1.95 million went for €2.59 million. Two other houses on same street went for just below €2 million last year. The exception is a home on Clyde Road which the owners refused to sell having got a top bid of €6.4 million. They are still holding out for €7 million, although the guide was €5 million.

Mount Merrion is proving another big draw with buyers attracted to the large family accommodation with good-sized gardens in the area. One house on the The Rise sold for €2.4 million partly because of its large garden. Other homes in the area sitting on up to a quarter of an acre around St Thomas Road are also expected to perform well with developers vying with those looking for a family home.

Ensor also points out that homes close to the seaside in traditional locations such as Dalkey, Killiney. Howth and Malahide are all also seeing substantial numbers of viewings.

All the agents admit that prices are likely to come more into balance after Easter when supply should start increasing. At the moment says Ensor there a mixture of buyers who failed to get a house they wanted at the end of last year as well as those who made the decision over Christmas. "In effect it is two markets coming together. Later in the year we always find that the demand drops a little and supply picks up."

However, with Easter so early this year supply is already higher than last year. At the time of year last year Sherry Fitzgerald would only have had one page of property ads in this supplement whereas this year it has two to three.

All the agents are also reporting fairly full auction rooms with three to four buyers chasing many properties. That is reflected in the higher level of sales under the hammer and fewer homes being withdrawn than the end of last year. Although this again is an annual trend when early Spring is usually the best time to sell.

Outside of these key areas auction prices are a little lower. A three-bedroom house on Lower Churchtown Road was sold for €810,000 while a two-bedroom detached house on 0.25 acres in need of complete modernisation in Kilternan sold for €780,000. A three-bedroom mid terrace house on Fortfield Tce in Rathmines sold for €1.1 million.

It is still too early to predict what may happen to house prices this year. Traditionally about two thirds of the annual price growth comes in the first six months. Last year prices were up about 8 per cent by June and had risen by around 12 per cent by the end of the year.

Nationally the picture is different again, at least according to the Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index which reported growth of 0.4 per cent in January while prices for first time buyers actually fell by 0.4 per cent. In the 12 months to the end of January the growth in national house prices was 8.5 per cent.