Around 20 people queued to buy houses in a development in west Dublin, several days before they were due to go on sale.

The first potential buyers formed a queue at the sales office at Beechwood Heath in Hansfield, Dublin 15, at around 6am yesterday morning.

By 3pm today a further 20 people had joined the line.

This afternoon, representatives of the estate agents Kelly Walsh arrived at the housing development and handed out tickets to the potential buyers.

Kelly Walsh has not responded to queries from RTÉ but the CEO of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers said such queues should not be necessary and that the prices of properties should be made clear to potential buyers before they are put on sale.

Pat Davitt said that despite the fact that properties are scarce, people should not need to queue outside to purchase one.

He said ticketing systems are the best method to deal with advanced demand for house sales. 

Mr Davitt also said that the situation demonstrates the need for the Government to build more housing.

Martin Mooney, who was fourth in line to buy a house in Hansfield, said he was willing to sit and sleep in the cold and rain until Friday to secure a house because he wanted a place for his family to settle.

Mr Mooney, who is from nearby Hartstown and was hoping to secure a three-bed semi-detached home in the development, said that he had two young children in a nearby school and if he did not buy a house in this development he was afraid he would be priced out of the area.

He said he expected to pay around €340,000 for the property and that it was similar in price to second-hand homes in the area.

While he said he believed it was "really poor" that buyers had to wait more than 30 hours before tickets were distributed he said "we have to deal with the market as best we can".

He said he just hoped that by Friday he will have secured the house he is looking for.