THE AVERAGE PRICE being asked for a three-bedroomed house in Co Donegal is €130,000 (source: Daft.ie Q3 2011 House Price Report) – and falling.

Despite the continued slide in the average price, the reserve put on one house in an upcoming distressed property auction in Dublin is fairly startling. The three-bedroomed semi-detached home in Convoy, Co Donegal, 14km from Letterkenny, has been marked in the Allsop/Space property auction catalogue as “reserve not to exceed €21,000″. However, buyers should note that the house is occupied by tenants who are currently paying €50 a week for the house and who began a four year nine month tenancy on 22 January 2011.

Allsop/Space have already held three auctions of distressed properties, most of which are being sold by receivers or financial institutions, hence the lower-than-average reserve prices. In the last auction in September, however, one property in Stoneybatter was sold for €1.5 million although its reserve had been a keen €850,000. An apartment with a sea view in Bundoran, Co Donegal went for €42,000 and a derelict house in Wexford went for €30,000 – the two cheapest sales of that day.

The full auction catalogue for the 30 November sale can be viewed online here. Here is a selection of properties due to go under the hammer: