‘I never dreamed I would be able to buy so quickly and I never, ever dreamed I would be able to buy on the southside” says Sheila Treacy, a first-time buyer who is about to move into her new home in Belarmine, Stepaside, Co Dublin.

Sheila (32), who works as a retail buyer, paid just under €200,000 for the one-bed apartment. She had been thinking of buying since January 2008, when the rent on a one-bed apartment in Ranelagh she was about to move in to rose from €1,000 a month to €1,200.

“As much as I loved the apartment and the area I realised I just couldn’t justify paying €1,200pm in ‘dead money’ and the landlord wouldn’t agree to my offer to pay €1,000pm and sign a two-year contract.

“My sister, who works in mortgages, persuaded me to live at home for another year just to save what I would have been paying in rent with a view to having something close to a deposit at the end of the year. I assumed I’d be saving until at least the end of this year so when the prices started to come down I was elated.”

Sheila found no difficulty in securing a mortgage and is looking forward to moving in to her first home at the end of the month

“I love being close to the countryside and I love being able to see the Dublin Mountains from my balcony. Johnnie Fox’s is one of my favourite hangouts and I’m a frequent visitor to the Dundrum town centre which is just 5 minutes down the road.

“I also have family in Mount Merrion, Dundrum and Knocklyon, all of which are very close by and I wanted to be quite close to the M50.”

Does she not worry though, that her employment status might change or that the value of her home might plummet?

“There is always concern at a time like this” she says, “but for first-time buyers in secure employment there really is value to be had out there and this is an opportunity for those buyers to get on the first rung of the property ladder.

“None of us know how long it will be before prices start to rise again or how high they will rise. This recession has quite obviously not been good for the majority of people in terms of redundancy, unemployment etc. But it can prove advantageous for those of us in a position to avail of the property slump and get ourselves onto the previously elusive property ladder.”

It seems there are plenty of first-time buyers with Sheila’s attitude. Ken MacDonald of Hooke and MacDonald estate agents reports that they have sold 210 new units since March, mainly apartments, in a variety of Dublin locations. MacDonald believed that this is an indication that buyers in Dublin believe that prices have bottomed out.

Another positive sign MacDonald has noted is that the number of visitors to show units has increased significantly since May, with the majority being single people and couples in the 25 to 40 age bracket, and he predicts that sales in the autumn will result.

Ronan O’Driscoll, director of new homes for Savills, reports similar activity since mid-March. They have sold 66 units in The Waterways, at Ashtown Dublin 15, and just under 70 in the rest of Dublin since then.

And it is not just first-time buyers who are gaining from this market. Darragh Hickey (27) bought an apartment in Ongar in 2006, and not long after moved to Cork for work.

He rented out the apartment and when he moved back to Dublin this year, decided to move in with a friend and leave the tenants in situ.

Though he recently bought and is ready to move into his new four-bedroom home in Adamstown, west Dublin, he chose not to sell the apartment in Ongar as it is in negative equity.

He finds being a landlord relatively hassle-free as he has good tenants and feels it makes financial sense to hold on to the Ongar property for the moment.

In 2006, at the height of the buying frenzy, he first decided to buy in Adamstown and put his deposit on a three bedroom townhouse. However, last summer, when the time came to close the deal, he got cold feet.

“At that time I saw how prices were falling sharply and I was concerned about buying in a falling market” Darragh explains.

He approached the developer, Castlethorn and he explained his dilemma.

“To be fair to Castlethorn they were decent about it. While they didn’t refund my deposit they offered me a voucher for €20,000 instead.”

So in the meantime Darragh kept an eye on the later phases being developed by the company.

Then a few weeks ago he saw how Castlethorn was offering a four-bedroom town house at its Castlegate section of Adamstown for €360,000 and he decided to cash in his voucher.

“Not alone does it have an extra bedroom compared to the first house but it is also cheaper than the first house which was for €385,000.

In addition, the Castlegate house is fully furnished including wooden flooring, carpets and even bed linen.”

However Darragh, who works for Gunnebo Lifting, found that the market had also changed in terms of raising finance.

“It was much easier first time round. This time one or two banks said no before I managed to get a mortgage,” he says.

Nor is he concerned about forecasts that prices will fall further.

“They may well go down a little bit more but with fewer homes being built it won’t be long before supply and demand picks up. In any case I’m not buying this house just as an investment.

“It’s an ideal place to raise a family. I’m originally from Ballydowd in Lucan and Castlegate is close to my local pubs. As regards work with the new road I’m only 15 minutes’ drive from work near the Red Cow junction of the M50.”

From Irirsh Independent June 12th 2009