Irish housing market bottoms out, auctions packed

[DUBLIN] When Graham Dixon arrived at a property auction in Dublin's affluent Ballsbridge neighbourhood last month, he braved a crowd of hundreds only to lose out on a house that sold for almost six times the reserve price.

"It was mad bidding," said Mr Dixon, a design technician and property investor seeking to trade up his family home at the sale, which was delayed by organiser Allsop Space for 30 minutes as people crammed in. "We just watched the bidding escalate more and more, and it went over our budget. It was scary."

The clamour reflects the turn in Ireland's fortunes after the country made a full return to international bond markets last week and drew a line under more than four years of financial crisis. Home prices rose for the first time in six years in 2013, and billionaire investors John Paulson and George Soros wagered on the country's property recovery.