Half-price homes go under hammer in record receivership auction

The list includes a mews apartment in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 for €600,000 -- down from €1.6m -- an apartment in Dublin's city centre Temple Bar for €80,000, and an apartment in Portlaoise for €35,000.

Hundreds of thousands of euro have been cut from boom-time prices with some apartments being sold for less than €24,000.

The auction by Allsops, the British auctioneer specialising in selling for banks and receivers, will take place on April 15 and will be run jointly with Dublin estate agency Space.

"We are quoting low prices to attract buyers from overseas and to ensure the properties will sell," said Space director Stephen McCarthy.

A full catalogue will be available from tomorrow and already more than 1,000 requests have been received for the list.

It includes a open plan studio on Essex Street in Temple Bar with a reserve of €80,000, a two-bedroom penthouse at Rookwood View Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham with a reserve of €145,000 and a stone clad, 2,300sq ft mews at Raglan Lane, Ballsbridge with a roof terrace, balcony and patio has a reserve of €600,000.

The cheapest family house is a three-bedroom semi in Tuam, Co Galway with a guide price of €45,000.

The prices quoted are what the selling agents describe as the 'maximum reserve' prices. Once the reserve is reached, the highest bid is guaranteed to secure the sale but Mr McCarthy has not ruled out selling properties for less than the reserve.

"We expect a number of overseas buyers and we will have eight people taking telephone bids to cater for them. Already an Irishman has phoned from New York to check the date in order to book his flight home to attend the auction," said Mr McCarthy.

About half the properties are in Dublin and at least 20 are family-style homes. Most of the others are apartments but the auction will also see about 10 shops and a farm on offer.

Only six properties are being sold by homeowners selling voluntarily. The rest are being sold by six receivers from some of the major insolvency practitioners in the country, acting on behalf of a number of banks.

The receivers have taken possession of most of the properties from developers and businesses which went bust.

csheehy@herald.ie