The new property season has had to start without many of its main players who have taken longer-than-usual holidays. This is not surprising given that virtually all the estate agencies and property developers turned in record profits in 1999 - and now they're spending it. Having treated his staff to a lavish weekend party in Bath before Christmas, Paul Newman of Douglas Newman Good took off to Australia for a month-long holiday. He might run into Gerry Leahy, the new homes specialist in west Dublin, who is also recharging his batteries on a long holiday in the Antipodes. Many of the house-builders are also enjoying their winter homes in the sun before making a fresh assault on the buoyant new homes market.