Since March the auction rooms in Dublin have seen more action than in the previous five years combined. It’s an encouraging return to this most transparent of selling methods.

However, some recent results from estate agent Lisney, which has led the charge back to the auction room, give pause for thought.

Last week it placed 12 properties for auction in its offices on Earlsfort Terrace, of which just six were sold and the rest withdrawn. Compare this with about 35 properties it had auctioned in the preceding four months, of which over 90 per cent sold.

These recent withdrawals of properties would seem at odds with the urgent reports of shortages of housing stock in key areas of the capital. Lisney auctioneer David Bewley puts it down to an overdue levelling out between supply and demand.

“Viewing numbers have dropped off completely. There may still be queues in some areas of Dublin 6, but viewings further out have halved.”

While stock levels are slowly improving, he also believes some agents may be pushing prices too high, and this in turn is heightening sellers’ expectations and putting off buyers.

“I’m surprised by prices achieved at the moment and I shouldn’t be at this point in my career,” Bewley says, adding that what doesn’t sell immediately should sell gradually over the summer.

Another Dublin-based agent spoke this week about the “fizz” going out of the market, and is advising clients to take any offers on the table within reach of the asking price.

It has always been a balancing act between the price people are prepared to pay, and what sellers are prepared to take, but now more than ever buyers have become very price sensitive, and who can blame them based on recent experience?