The country house market has defied trends with most of the estates finding buyers recently.

October was the best month for sales over the last two years, according to Robert Ganly of country house specialists Ganly Walters. The recovery came after a particularly slow spring and early summer when most properties were out of bounds because of the foot and mouth outbreak.

With many country estates having trebled in value over the last five years, Ganly Walters estimates that it was frequently getting between 10 and 20 per cent above the guideline for properties priced at over £2 million (€2.54m).

However, these bonuses were not to be had this year, says Mr Ganly, but after the events of September 11th, vendors began to take a more realistic attitude to values. This opened the way for a range of sales to be completed at between 5 and 10 per cent below the lowest guide prices.

Most of the estates were sold to Irish business people, one of the exceptions being Grangecon Demesne, the 256-acre Co Wicklow estate, which went to an American bloodstock breeder for £4.5 million (€5.71m).

The largest country estate sold this year, the 4,125-acre Ballinacor, near Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, was bought by an Irish couple, Sir Robert and Lady Goff, who have been spending the last few years between a home in Donabate and another one in the Isle of Man.

They paid substantially less than the asking price of £10 million (€12.70m) for Ballinacor, a wonderful sporting estate, which was sold by the Earl of Meath before he moved to the family seat, Kilruddery, near Bray. Ganly Walters and William Montgomery of Sothebys International Realty, who handled the sale, also secured close to the guide price of £1.5 million (€1.9m) for Loughton House, a late Georgian home on 226 acres at Moneygall, Co Tipperary.

Pat O'Hagan of Hamilton Osborne King also reported "one of the busiest autumns for years" with prices probably down by around 5 per cent. "The selling season had been pushed back until mid-summer because of the foot and mouth epidemic and even then it took up to six months to sell most country properties."

His agency expected to be equally busy next spring when they are due to market "a nice stock of top-notch properties", mainly in Leinster, with between 25 and 300 acres.

Hamilton Osborne King handled the sale of the 1,200-acre Farnham estate in Cavan which had been owned by the late Lord Farnham's family since 1664. It was bought by a Cavan-born pharmacist, Mr Roy McCabe, who has several businesses in Dublin.

John Hamilton of Jackson Stops also believes the better country houses should continue to sell next year provided they are sensibly priced.

One of the disappointing features of the last six months, he said, was that vendors hadn't always taken the advice given to them by their estate agents.

In some cases, where good offers were received at around the valuation level, the vendors would not deal and the offers had since been reduced. Mr Hamilton said that with the fall-off in local demand for country houses, agencies such as his with international connections would become more important because of their ability to market properties abroad. He estimates that the value of many country estates dropped by between 20 to 25 per cent in the past year because of the economic slow-down and more stringent lending conditions by the banks.

Michael Daniels, the Cork-based agent, says 2001 was the slowest season for many years and the fact that fewer people were buying as an investment with the intention of turning it over in four or five years.

Previously their investment was showing a return of up to 25 per cent per annum. "These people aren't prepared to put their houses on the market at the moment because there has been no obvious growth in value. The result is that supply has dwindled and likewise demand."