“OVER-CORRECTING” is the buzz word from agents, whose formal reports confirm what they’ve been saying for a long time – that average house prices are down nationally by about 60 per cent, and by about 64 per cent in Dublin.

But what is this over-correction? Could it be wishful thinking on the part of the property industry which can’t accept that prices are now back to 2000 levels, and still falling?

Or is over-correction something real, the flipside of what happens in a boom – though you didn’t hear many property people saying homes were “over-peaking” back in 2007.

At any rate, prices are down, down, down – and while that doesn’t make vendors happy, it’s good news for some buyers.

Interestingly, while pundits still doubt that the recent budget measures will excite first-time buyers, we found more than a few who’ve been saving – just like people did in the olden days – and have now taken, or are just about to take, the leap into home ownership.

At any rate, Sherry FitzGerald’s end-of-year residential market review throws up a number of interesting details – eg, approximately 1,250 buyers registered with Sherry FitzGerald in Dublin in the closing months of 2011 said they were cash buyers.

“This represents 29 per cent of total active buyers and is a continuation of a trend evident since the beginning of 2011,” says its report.

It also says that, not surprisingly, first-time buyers “remain a very active cohort in the market, accounting for 33 per cent of the properties traded in the year”.

However, that’s a fall on the same period in 2010, when it stood at 49.7 per cent,

Meanwhile, DNG chief Keith Lowe believes that “while there may be some further over-correction this year, we believe that 2012 will be seen as a turning point in the market cycle”.

Its House Price Gauge finds that Dublin residential prices have dropped by 64.7 per cent.

It also estimates that one in every three buyers is deemed to be a cash buyer “and the company believes this trend towards cash transactions will continue as buyers find it difficult to secure mortages”, says Lowe.