Lower down the market, pricecuts are the order of the day in most estate agencies at the moment. And the bigger the cuts are, the better the vendor has of a chance of shifting property that has been on the market since early this year. Sherry FitzGerald is obviously getting the message across to its Bray vendors judging by a bundle of brochures that arrived at the property desk this week. According to Aisling O'Buachalla of the agency's Bray office, being so far from the city centre, the agency is offering some dramatic cuts.

For instance, it has a 10-bedroom house, Wellington House at Novara Avenue, Bray, that had been on the market at £650,000 (825,329) but has now been reduced to £500,000 (634,869). A modern detached house at Eagle Valley, beside the Powerscourt Estate, has been reduced in price by £50,000 (63,486) to £700,000 (888,816), while in Greystones, Gower House, an unusual split-level house on one acre with mountain and sea views at Windgates, is down to £490,000 (622,171) from £580,000 (736,448).