5th Biggest Auction Weekend on Record Predicted

Real estate in Melbourne is set to see a flurry of activity this weekend (March 23-24), with up to 1,210 auctions expected to take place.

That figure is the fifth largest number of auctions in a single weekend on record, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), with March 14-15 2008 holding the record, with 1,351 auctions occurring.

This weekend from last year saw a success rate of 59 per cent from 703 attempts, while the same weekend in 2010 enjoyed a 64 per cent success rate from 956 auctions.

Brighton will boast the title of the suburb that hosts the greatest number of auctions, with 28 to take place. South Yarra and Glen Iris are two other locales that will see a high number of auctions.

The REIV is attributing the high number of auctions to a few factors.

"There are two reasons for the high number of auctions, firstly as consumer confidence levels are slowly rising, more owners are prepared to sell and secondly a traditional spike in listings caused by Easter the following weekend," the REIV explained.

High numbers of auctions have not always produced great auction results, with the second highest weekend on record (November 2003) only producing a 47 per cent clearance rate.