When we saw that Glenvar, on Cross Avenue, in Blackrock, Co Dublin, sold for €5.25 million we were wondering if it was just another error on th property price register.

It wasn't. The house, regarded by some as one of the finest in south Co Dublin, has been bought by Ardagh Group chief executive Niall Wall.

A two-storey over-garden-level detached period house, Glenvar sits on more than an acre of landscaped gardens. It is the former home of retired businessman Peter Ledbetter, who has since bought a property on Nutley Road, which is being completely rebuilt.

Of late, the only houses in Dublin managing to sell for more than €5 million are on Shrewsbury Road, in Ballsbridge. Lisadell, 9 Shrewsbury Road, sold for €6 million; Thorndene, Shrewsbury Road, formerly owned by businessman Niall O'Farrell, sold for about €5 million; and 8 Shrewsbury Road, which was owned by former AIB chairman Dermot Gleeson, made €5.2 million.

Could it be that Cross Avenue is the new Shrewsbury Road? Or has the property market really turned the corner?