Melbourne is set to undergo its fifth-biggest auction on record. Source: Herald Sun
MELBOURNE is set to undergo its fifth-biggest auction weekend on record in the biggest Super Saturday since 2010.
More than 1200 properties will go under the hammer today and tomorrow, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria figures.
The glut will spoil buyers for choice as more auctions are held in one weekend than are scheduled for the next three weeks combined.
And REIV estimates indicate buyers may have their wallets out, with sales at auction predicted to reach $650 million across the two days.
Market experts are predicting clearance rates to stay reasonably consistent with those recorded so far this year, although a slight drop is possible.
Wakelin Property Advisory director Richard Wakelin said Super Saturday would be a barometer for the wider market.
"It will provide probably the best snapshot of how the property market is performing and holding up - it's a tremendous barometer," he said.
"This is a really key weekend, in terms of whether the supply can be absorbed - it's really going to tell us if this market is sustainable."
A good outcome would see a slight drop in the clearance rate to a more normal level of 65 per cent, according to Mr Wakelin.
REIV figures show the biggest auction weekend of the year so far, February 23 and 24, when 939 properties were auctioned, also recorded the highest clearance rate, 72 per cent, since 2010.
When 1122 homes were auctioned across October 27 and 28 last year, both the number of auctions and the clearance rate, 64 per cent, were the highest recorded for the year. A similarly high result was recorded in February 2011.
