The former family home in East Wall, Dublin, was sold at the auction in the Burlington Hotel

IF you ever needed proof that the property market had collapsed, here it is.

A Dublin father yesterday bought his ideal family home for €65,000 -- three years after walking away from the three-bed house when the asking price was €380,000.

"We looked at that exact house three years ago and it was €380,000," the man -- who didn't want to be identified -- told the Irish Independent as he left the Merlin Property auction in Dublin.

"It's unbelievable; I thought that when I went in I wouldn't get it. It is the best value I have ever seen.

"I will go home to tell my wife now; she'll be over the moon. Now it's about trying to get in for Christmas."

The attractive, three-bed terraced home in East Wall, Dublin, sold for €65,000.

But the previous owner was happy enough to sell the house he had grown up in with his parents.

Noel Langrell (55) said that while it had been on the market for a number of years, he was unable to sell it and decided to go to auction when Merlin advertised.

"If you have a property sitting there and it's going nowhere, this is the way to go," he said afterwards.

"What can I say? What's the point of holding on to it? It was a family home since the 1920s, my mam died and I was on my own by then."

Just four of nine properties at the small auction were sold by last night, with three remaining under auction and two withdrawn.

Their collective earnings were €305,500 compared to a peak market value of €1.03m.

Merlin auctions usually involve car sales but yesterday's auction was its first move into property -- ahead of a larger one next March.

"It's frightening; it's scary," observed a bidder who asked to be identified only as Dermot from Kildare. "And it reflects your own house; if you can pay your mortgage or if you don't have one that's okay but if you have to sell then that's when the issue comes in."

Irish Independent