Is Howth set to become the new Bel Air of Dublin? Reports this week that heart-throb Robert Redford had bought not one but two adjoining penthouses on the peninsula had every owner in the area in a high state of excitement, but so far there's been no confirmation of a sale. In fact the village has few penthouses, though some are available at Corr Castle, a new development where selling agent Tara Henry of Douglas Newman Good is standing by for a collect call from LA.

So too are a number of families who wisely invested in penthouses when the market was on the floor and are now willing to sell, take the dollars and run. Should Redford show up in town with a fat cheque book, he will have no difficulty in picking up a penthouse. They are proving difficult to shift since investors were excluded from the market.

The most expensive one available at present is at Coliemore House - the former Dalkey Island Hotel - where a three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit, with 2,400 sq ft is still available at £1.7 million.