Barry Plant agents are bracing for a rush of auctions in the lead-up to Christmas, with events lined up almost daily.

December is traditionally a busy period as sellers hope to find buyers before the year-end holidays, while buyers seek to secure homes for the new year.

The Barry Plant network’s auction numbers jumped to nearly 90 on the December 3 Super Saturday. There were 1182 auctions scheduled across Victoria, including 1116 in Melbourne, that week, according to Proptrack figures.

December 10 will see the state’s third Super Saturday in a row, with almost 1300 auctions lined up..

Barry Plant offices have scheduled 99 auctions for the day, with a few properties already under offer as sellers are accepting offers rather than going ahead with auctions.

Many offices are holding auctions on Tuesdays through to Thursdays, and mostly in the evening to allow buyers to attend after work. Three midweek auctions were scheduled on December 8.

The midweek twilight events are to accommodate the packed Saturday auction schedules that have already been booked in, agents said.

December 17 will be the last busy auction Saturday for Barry Plant agents, with 90 auctions lined up so far.

The week leading to Christmas Day, which falls on a Sunday, will include auctions on Monday until Wednesday (December 19-21) where at least 19 auctions are lined up.

For those sellers opting for private listings, negotiations can be carried out very close to the Christmas-New Year holidays.

Buyers have been known to ink contracts on Christmas Eve, with agents happy to work until the last minute with inspections and sales.

For some Barry Plant agents however, working over the Christmas and New Year holidays and into January has become normal.

“In the Mornington Peninsula, the selling season stretches from October till February and does not stop over Christmas,” Barry Plant Dromana director Terry Burgoyne said.

“In this region, people buy at any time and the market here wakes up and comes alive in summer as people are on holidays and looking to buy.”

With limited properties available for sale and the peninsula attracting holiday-home buyers and also permanent residents, Mr Burgoyne said demand had grown.

In the city’s eastern suburbs, Barry Plant Manningham agent Jack Treacey expects to work through the Christmas period as well.

“Some agents don’t stop working over the Christmas and New Year season,

as this is a busy period and we always have sales,” Mr Treacey said.

“There is also more urgency among some owners to sell before the year ends as they expect more properties to come onto the market in 2023.”

He added that there was still strong demand from buyers, as many have not been able to purchase this year because of the low number of properties for sale and competition for quality homes.

For a list of auctions by the Barry Plant network, click HERE. For properties open for inspection, click HERE.