Property prices have been the hot topic at dinner parties over the last 20 years.

This could all change because of the row between the National Consumer Agency and auctioneers over the accuracy of published prices of private treaty sales.

The row was triggered by Property’s decision to write to estate agents to complain about inaccurate results being submitted to this page.

Now the NCA has upped the ante by giving agents a deadline of this afternoon to commit to reporting only precise prices.

This may be too much for the auctioneers, who might simply stop revealing sales prices altogether.

Auctioneers invariably disclose prices, particularly when they hit the jackpot.

But there is no obligation on them to do so, and no formal procedure for the public to discover an actual selling price.

Even if curious folk – including journalists – present themselves at the Dickensian Registry of Deeds in Henrietta Street, they won’t get much joy as even by supplying the name of a vendor, all they’re likely to find is a dry document that doesn’t include a price.

This means that they have to rely on either auctioneers, or talkative sellers or buyers, or indeed nosy neighbours to find out what a property made.

Now it seems auctioneers run the risk of infringing either the Data Protection Act or the Consumer Protection Act: the data act means they can’t reveal an exact price without written permission from a vendor (not likely to be forthcoming). Consumer law apparently insists they can’t fudge, even a little.

The Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI) may call for a change in the data act. Until then, watch this space.