The auction room is traditionally the first place to look to assess the health, and confidence, of the residential property market. Even though what goes under the hammer only constitutes about 10% of sales overall, activity in the capital's auction rooms is taken as the barometer for all that happens elsewhere. This year, the high activity of spring led to autumn's 'rude awakening' for vendors, as a leading economist told this paper in early October.

The year initially seemed slow to kick off, but went on to become the busiest auction season recorded by many agents since the heady days of the late 1990s. This was due to a scarcity of property at the year's beginning, following a surprisingly bouyant winter selling period for 2005.

As Simon Ensor, director of auctions at Sherry FitzGerald, one of the agencies which sold a record number of homes under the hammer in the first half of 2006, commented: "Anything that came on in early January was gone by the end of the month." Scarcity of second-hand homes, plus several imminent interest hikes, led to the few properties for sale being snapped up at what another agent described as "ridiculously high" prices.

Homeowners who had built up considerable equity began to consider taking the gamble in the auction room, releasing the money to pay off the mortgage, buy smaller, and buy abroad as well.

Buyers, in turn, rushed to purchase because there seemed to be a scarcity and also because they believed that if they held off, they wouldn't get the loan approval required due to imminent interest rates hikes.

The activity in the auction market peaked by mid-summer. A record 992 properties were sold at auction in Dublin between January and June, a 25% increase in sales on the previous year. The average price of a house auctioned in the capital was 1.57m in 2005.

The startling 35% price increase on the year to June 2006 meant that the average Dublin home price at auction was 2.13m.

This month's analysis by agents Douglas Newman Good shows a 15% increase in the number of auctions in Dublin this year overall (1,498) compared to 2005 (1,295). Actual sales at auction show one-third of properties sold this year, slightly lower than the previous year's 43%.

But a higher amount of private deals were agreed after withdrawal, upwards 16% this year compared to 12% in 2005.

The 'year of two halves' is shown by auction results for the second half of 2006.

While there was a similar amount (484 in autumn 2006;

486 in 2005), the results tell a radically different story than the spring market. Only 17% of auction properties sold under the hammer in the latter half, well down on 2005's 43%.

Paul Murgatroyd, economist with Douglas Newman Good says demand was stronger than most had anticipated.

"The first six months of the year were characterised by a shortage of supply and that drove prices up. By July, the auction temperature had changed."

In the shorter autumn selling period, predictions of a soft landing seemed to have come to fruition. For those who put their house up for auction, there was significant competition from the private treaty market.

According to Declan Cassidy of Gunne Auctioneers' Fairview office, there was a 25% increase in stock, compared to 2005, in the amount of new properties coming on the market. Supply rocketed, and it looked like buyers could be choosy. Auction withdrawals rocketed too.

Then October's fifth interest rate hike, bringing the rate to 3.25% . . . struck a cautionary note. But it was the 'will they, won't they' question mark over a change in stamp duty levels that changed the temperature.

The market had stalled. But as Paul Murgatroyd puts it:

"If you are to take the entire year, the average sale price of a house that went under the hammer rose by 500,000.

However, the average is worked from the exceptional prices of spring when people paid huge sums for fairly standard properties. That's why expectations were so high, and headlines so dramatic in the autumn.

"When things slow down, it feels worse than it actually is.

That's because the market has been so incredibly bouyant for so long."