Bargains might get buyers off the fence, says Edel Morgan

THE "REDUCED to sell" signs going up outside houses and apartments everywhere have introduced harsh reality to some neighbourhoods. These signs have cut the ground from under anyone who's been part of a tacit alliance of vendors in their area who've being trying to fight the downturn and are stubbornly refusing to budge on asking price.

As memories of the boom fade, it's likely asking prices will fall into line in most areas but even now after more than 18 months of downturn, there are still people hankering after a lost era and hoping that someone will love their property enough to pay thousands of euro over the current value.

A reader contacted me to say that in her area there are currently six houses on the market, all three-bed semis "virtually indentikit" but with asking prices that vary wildly for what is ostensibly the same house. They start at around €460,000, for one that's just been reduced to sell, to €540,000 for a similar one with the bonus of a longer back garden. She says some have lowered their prices several times but others are holding firm "which seems incomprehensible given that some of the competition is willing to sell for much less".

I looked at a random selection of estates in Dublin to see if this woman has spotted a possible trend and found that price plucking (as in out of the air) is not exclusive to her neighbourhood.

In Gainsborough in Malahide, Co Dublin, a large estate, there are currently around 12 houses on the market - all four-bed semis of around 125sq m (1,340sq ft). Asking prices vary by a whopping €100,000 (from €595,000 to €695,000). One could argue that certain factors will make some more expensive than others - like orientation, the standard of decor, positioning within the estate, or whether the attic is floored or converted. But does this explain such large price variations?

Also on the northside at St Attracta Road in Cabra, D7 - where there are at least a half dozen houses for sale - prices for two-bed mid-terraced houses range from €290,000 for one that's been rewired and has a large garden but needs updating to €385,000 for one that's around 9sq m (100sq ft) bigger and in walk-in condition. Another mid-terrace house with an extended kitchen is asking €360,000, while an end-terrace needing refurbishment is priced at €300,000.

Not that arbitrary price setting is happening everywhere. In some areas, vendors are watching the competition and keeping asking prices on a par like those, for example, at Warrenstown in Blanchardstown, D15, where three-bed semis are between €285,000 and €300,000.

Could it be that people who've bought into first-time buyer-type developments are sometimes less sentimental about their property when selling up, having always viewed it as a stopgap? Or are estate agents in some areas taking a tougher line and refusing to deal with unrealistic vendors?

In Bayview, Killiney - where there are around six houses for sale - similar three-beds of 93sq m (1,000sq ft) listed on myhome.ie range from €530,000 to €560,000.

On Mapas Road in Dalkey, three-bed semis with garages range from €745,000 for a 125sq m (1,350sq ft) house in need of work to €795,000 for another slightly smaller three-bed with a 50ft garden, also needing work. A 110sq m (1,193sq ft) house on Mapas Avenue that has been decorated and rewired is asking €945,000.

In the current sluggish market, some might argue that it's academic whether you pluck a price out of mid-air or undercut the competition because very little is selling anyway. But to have a hope of luring those elusive buyers off the fence - and there is the occasional "Sale Agreed" sign around - they have to feel they are getting a bargain.