Hopes of life in the secondhand houses market were raised in recent days in deals related to the auction market.

In Dublin a detached house in Dalkey sold within half an hour of being withdrawn at auction.

Doonecoy, a four bedroom house in the sought after area of Castlepark Road, Dalkey, would have fetched between €900,000 and €1m at the peak of the property boom two years ago.

On Wednesday despite the agents Colliers Jackson-Stops quoting an Advised Minimum Value (AMV) of only €675,000 it failed to attract one bid at auction despite the standing room only turn-out, even when Colliers agents Peter Kenny tried to get the bidding underway at €560,000.

Afterwards he spoke to two prospective buyers and tied up an undisclosed deal. It did, according to Kenny, sell for above the €560,000 he was looking for at auction.

Meanwhile stronger interest was seen at Kildare auctions when two cottages in North Kildare were the first houses to sell under the hammer in 2009.

One of them sold for as much as €20,000 over the pre-auction price guideline. It is a derelict, four bedroom cottage on 1.5 acres at Enfield Road, Kilcock, which made €272,000.

The agent, Eamon O'Flaherty of Maynooth-based auctioneers Property Partners Brady, also sold a semi-detached cottage on 0.2 acres in need of complete refurbishment at Green Lane, Leixlip for €263,000 -- €7,000 below the guide price.

Over 40 people attended the auctions and four different people actively bid for each property.

Mr O'Flaherty said both "vendors were very realistic in their expectations.

"The attendance also shows there are a lot of potential purchasers around but they certainly want value for money."

While there have been a few other property auctions this year they have mainly been farm land as well as a few pubs and very few of them have sold.