It's been a strong year for property sales in Galway for city-based agents O'Donnellan and Joyce who credit the introduction of property auctions as helping to boost their bottom line.

The company staged its first auction in November 2013. In the six auctions held since, the agency has brought 220 properties, a mix of residential and commercial, to auction with 187 selling. This is an 85 per cent success rate generating €30 million in property sales, of which 90 per cent were residential. With an average attendance of 400 at each sale, the majority were cash buyers, says Noreen Darcy, the agent’s spokeswoman.

Their seventh auction takes place on Friday, December 12th in the Harbour Hotel, Galway.

Highlights include a six-bedroom detached property on an acre of ground on the shores of Lough Derg with two moorings for boats in Scariff, Co Clare, which has an AMV of €250,000; a three-bedroom semi-detached period house, St Rita’s on San Antonio Terrace, Salthill, which has an AMV of €300,000 and Number 9 Distillery Road, a three-bedroom detached property, near NUIG, with an AMV of €450,000. One lot of four apartments, two two-beds and two three-bedroom properties at 3 Tui Bhriain, on the Shantalla Road, has an AMV of €450,000.

The agents also have several properties for sale by private treaty including the picturesquely appointed Fooranagh, a detached bungalow on the shores of Lough Corrib. This house is approximately 15km from Galway city centre, about a 30-minute drive.

The three-bedroom house measures 148sq m (1600sq feet) and has a detached garage. It is asking €420,000.

Oranswell, in the leafy Galway suburb of Bushy Park, is a five-bedroom detached house on an acre of land that includes its own orchard.

The 241sq m (2,600 sq ft) sized property is asking €399,000.