Gortbeg, there are two competing interests at play here:
- Your interest: As you and others have mentioned, the market is 'quiet', to say the least. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that properties just aren't shifting - I know someone else with an nearly-new apartment on the market since last September. You can hold out at the price you're at while those around you reduce theirs, but then you might have to reduce yours even further to get below the new asking price for similar properties.
- The auctioneer's interest: The auctioneer is interested in more than just the money they make from the sale on your own individual property. They're more interested in the overall market - and of course the last thing they want happening is for you to reduce the price, putting downward pressure on their market. And the auctioneer is desperately hoping that other auctioneers are telling their clients the exact same thing, in order to keep the house of cards standing up.
It's a tough one - I hope it works out for you.