Rich Americans are back in the market, or at least one of them was this week. Maynooth estate agent Willie Coonan snapped up a prime Co Wicklow property, the Grangecon Demesne, after auction for £3.5 million (€4.45 million). He bought the 256-acre property on behalf of a US client who intends to run it as a stud farm. Grangecon had been on the market for some months, and had started out with an asking price of £4.5 million (€5.7million). Selling agents Ganly Walters and Bill Montgomery Sotheby's showed it to dozens of parties before deciding to bring the sale to a head through auction. The price may be well short of the original guide, but it will still give hope to agents and vendors with big properties to sell on the east coast. At this level, and right throughout the market, buyers are prepared to move, if they feel they are getting value for money.