Real estate Christmas rush is on

T may only be October, but the countdown to Christmas is on as more than 500 homes go to auction today and the mood is set for the selling season.

Dubbed spring's "Super Saturday'', today will be the best opportunity for eager househunters to secure a sale in time to move in and put up the Christmas tree.

Information from realestate. com.au shows today is "Super Saturday" with 2483 properties going to auction around the nation.

Across Sydney, 530 properties are scheduled to auction today.

By Sunday, a total of 767 homes will have gone under the hammer during the week - a solid spike in numbers compared to the 489 auctions reported last week.

According to a consumer insights report by property search engine realestate.com.au, nearly half of current vendors see spring as the ideal time to sell because of good weather and a looming end of year deadline. Of the buyers surveyed, most said they will be househunting in the $300,000 to $500,000 price bracket today.

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The majority properties auctioning today, 141, will be around the north shore and northern beaches while 90 are to be held in the inner west, 76 in and around St George and Sutherland, 63 in the Canterbury-Bankstown area, 52 around greater western Sydney, 51 in the city and eastern suburbs and more than 30 on the Central Coast.

Across Australia there will be approximately 2483 auctions today, 690 of those will be in NSW.nte

Although this week's auction volumes pale in comparison with the total of 904 Sydney auctions recorded in the first week of April, indicators show clearance rates are finally on the road to recovery.

Back in April only half of the properties put under the hammer were selling on the day as auction clearance rates hovered around a sober 50 to 55 per cent. By September, that figure had climbed to a more optimistic 60 per cent. To date, the peak clearance rate for 2012 was recorded just two weeks ago at 63 per cent - the highest figure since June 2010.

"A shortage of stock will force great competition this weekend. I'd look at houses - anything with a land component is hot right now because upgraders and renovators are out in force. For most freestanding houses we've got about six or seven bidders on each property which is a great sign at the moment,'' said chief auctioneer of Under The Hammer, Matthew Shalhoub.

"We've only got about seven or eight weeks to go before things wind down at Christmas - people want to get their places sold,'' said Mr Shalhoub, whose team will auction 46 properties today.

"Whether it is a super Saturday or not, I'm not too sure. It's a term that's used pretty loosely when there are a lot of auctions on one day, but to truly be a Super Saturday I think there really needs to be about 50 per cent more on offer than any other Saturday. I'd be more inclined to talk about a `super week','' he said.

Damien Cooley of Cooley Auctions, which performs auctions most days of the week, said today will symbolically kick off the 2012/13 selling season.

"It really is a pretty big week and in fairness it's going to be a really big test for the market,'' he said.

"We've got 61 auctions scheduled for today and a total of 128 for the week, but that could be superseded in November.

"If we see clearance rates of around 60 per cent or better on the weekend, then that's a great sign. A good end to 2012 means a good start for 2013,'' he said.

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/realestate/buying/real-estate-christmas-rush-is-on/story-fndcuqbl-1226504403444