Trading up: Maryborough, Cork €415,000

Size: 157 sq m (1,700sq ft)

There’s plenty of rooms in 4, The Fairways, a detached dormer off Cork’s Maryborough Hill – its 1,700 sq ft manages to fit in five bedrooms, three reception rooms, and a kitchen/dining room, plus utility and guest WC.

The very well-maintained home is on a corner site which gets good light, says estate agent Michael O’Donovan of Savills, who says several recent listings of above-standard homes he’s had in Rochestown and Crosshaven have been bid well above asking prices – in one case, by as much as 25%.