TWENTY people have bought houses in a liquidator’s sale of 35 homes in Cavan, which began over the Bank Holiday weekend.

“There was a queue of people on Saturday: it has been some time since I’ve seen a crowd like that. It was nearly like going back to the good times,” said David Reynolds of Gunne Reynolds who handled the sales at Ardkill Place, near Ballinagh, where a liquidator had been appointed to dispose of unsold homes after the developer ran into difficulties. Prices were cut by around 50 per cent with three-beds offered at €100,00, four-bed semis at €130,000 and five-beds for €185,000.

The nine three-beds sold out immediately and there is a waiting list of 20, should any sales fall through.

Between 200-300 people turned up and many of the buyers had been waiting for such a moment: “They were mainly first-time buyers who had been in the market for the past two years; standing back and waiting for something like this,” said Mr Reynolds.

“It is very encouraging, for the property market, that there are a lot of buyers there when prices get to a certain level.”

While some buyers came from the local area, they also included people from Dublin, Athlone, Navan and the North.

“A lot of people suspected that something like this would happen,” said Frank Conway, director of the Irish Mortgage Corporation, who calculated typical repayments for mortgages on this scheme.

“This is the first one I’ve seen; where a liquidator has instructed the sale of a scheme, but everyone is watching closely to see how the Liam Carroll affair will play out. Where this will go and the prospect of such sales happening again all depends on the judges; the people with power.” He doesn’t think that NAMA will be able to take on every single debt. “So the big question is, what is going to unfold, and the Cavan sale gives a flavour of what it could be like. There is a huge demand for mortgages but people are not going in to buy just yet. Most buyers are sharp and we’re all watching closely to see what will happen.”

While price was a key factor in Cavan, the fact that the liquidators had brought in builders to complete the scheme was important, said Mr Reynolds: “Buyers have peace of mind that the whole development will be finished. People are afraid of buying something at a knock-down price that will remain on a building site.”