It must be clear to everyone, that Estate Agents/Auctioneers/Sellers are the real villains in this mess we call a property market. These people inflate every house price, always pushing higher. They jack up rents to levels that cannot be justified. The guiding force is always to increase their own business, and always to maximize their own profits. They use creative, and misleading marketing and sharp questionable advertising, and they promote a sense of urgency and scarcity that fuels the upward demand spiral. Supply and Demand economics in the Irish property industry is a fairy tale. Supply is deliberately, and institutionally manipulated and restricted, demand is artificially inflated, and price is pushed ever higher. Always too few properties, always higher prices, always more profit for the select few. Developers, Landlords, Investment Funds, Banks, Auctioneers, and those that facilitate them, always make gains, always benefit. The worker, homeowner, house buyer, renter, student, ordinary Joe Soap gets taken to the cleaners every time.