AroundtheBlock:Traditionally this is bonus time and, while in London and New York the payoff is often staggering - or at least enough for a down payment on a penthouse - over here things are not looking so good for Christmas.
The dismal performance of the final quarter of the year has not only brought the doom merchants out in force, it may also have dented the expectations of sale agents who rely heavily on commission to boost their take-home pay.
Virtually every agency will have seen a drop in fee income since October, and though some relief may come in next week's Budget, many are inclined to write off the rest of the year. The most successful selling agents can double their base salary if they manage to shift a lot of property, but with plenty still on their books, the rewards seem set to fall well short of previous years.
The saving grace may be the record returns seen in the first half of the year, which overall may still put many of them ahead, even if they have been twiddling their thumbs for the last two months.
While older agents, have seen this cycle before, it's a new game for younger staff who have lived with a boom since coming out college. There's a lot of talk about sorting the men from the boys, and the girls of course, but many are still reeling as to how sentiment could change overnight after years of upward and onward selling.
Offers on homes bring Christmas cheer
With the Budget just a week away, the bottom fishers are out, looking for a bargain in the secondhand homes market. Offers are being made on properties, which at least is a good sign, according to one agency specialising in the upper end of the market.
However derisory the offers might be, the fact that buyers with the reputation for being savvy are sniffing around can only be seen as a good sign.
Do they have inside information from the politicians on Brian Cowen's frame of mind, or are they just up for the gamble? Either way, the agents are taking their calls in the hope of getting some sold signs up before Christmas and clearing the embarrassing backlog.
The constitution of a historical hotel book
It's corporate gift time and among all the fine wines, goats and chickens that are being circulated one gem is likely to be the special edition book on the Shelbourne to mark its imminent reopening.
The lavish tome was commissioned by Bernard McNamara to celebrate a new era for the famous hotel and it's likely to be full of history as will the refurbished hotel, whose constitution room has been restored in painstaking detail to look exactly as it was when the constitution was drafted there in 1922. Look out for the book on the very best coffee tables.
London provides capital gains to SherryFitz
Sherry FitzGerald may not be raking in the fees from the final quarter of this year, with much of its stock still for sale. However, the group is quietly making a few pounds sterling in London where the market is forging ahead with double digit growth on the cards for 2006. Sherry FitzGerald estimates that up to 30 per cent of its group turnover - €70 million this year - is now being generated in London and that can only get better now that it has added a second string of agencies to its Marsh & Parsons chain.
It recently purchased Vanstons, a small chain of agencies which are now being rebranded as Marsh & Parsons. The combined agencies curently employ almost 150 people, a third of the group's 450 employeesand it will expand further in 2007. London agencies get fatter fees - 2 per cent is usual - and with higher values it's a nice earner for the Dublin based group which can also deliver a stream of Irish investors keen to buy in London where yields are strong.
