The three-bed semi-detached home always makes a good benchmark when comparing property prices around the country.

In Limerick, according to Gordon Kearney, director of Rooney Auctioneers, a new three-bed semi will typically cost between £115,000 to £125,000. A second-hand one will set you back between £120,000 and £130,000.

What's more, in tandem with the softening of the property market nationally, second-hand semis have seen prices "come back" by around £10,000 in recent months, he says.

"It's not so much that prices have fallen, but that at the end of last year builders pushed up the prices to the extreme, but failed to sell at those prices." For those who have a little more money to spend, and who are happy to commute a little, there is great value currently on offer in desirable addresses such as Adare which benefit from new road networks.

"At 12 miles from the city centre, Adare is something of a hotspot. You can get a very attractive four-bedroomed detached property there on half an acre for around £265,000," he says.

At Patrick's Well, a new development of six houses located six miles from the city centre, was launched recently, with five selling off the plans. These are 2,000 sq ft in size, generous by any standards, on a quarter-acre site, selling at £220,000. Young couples who want to be near large employment catchment areas traditionally gravitate towards the estates of Raheen and Dooradoyle, he says.

More settled couples, and those trading up, opt for areas like Castletroy or the Ennis road. Prices on the Ennis Road start at £180,000, while attractive houses in estates in mature parts of Castletroy can be bought for £150,000.

"This is the kind of money that would get you half a house in Dublin," he points out. The reason Limerick prices, particularly for three and four-bed semi-detached houses, are so competitive is not because of lack of demand so much as because of ease of supply. "Limerick had massive amounts of serviced land ready-to-go throughout the housing boom and that has helped keep prices down," he explains.

Waterford auctioneer John Drohan's website currently hosts a number of attractive three-bed semis off Collins Avenue at around the £130,000 mark which is representative of prices in the city. And, while the market has slowed down somewhat on a national basis, according to Sheila O'Flynn of Burton Crowley O'Flynn auctioneers, business is as busy as ever in Cork city centre.

Here new three-bedroom semis start at around £132,000 and rise to £155,000, with second-hand versions running from £125,000 to £175,000. Inner-city terraced houses, sometimes in walk-in condition, can be picked up for as little as £120,000, while three or four-bedroom townhouses in new developments in places like Ballincollig (six miles out) start at £120,000."We find there are definitely more people returning from abroad than before," she says. "Many of these are coming back with money in their pocket.