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Australia is gearing up for the busiest auction week on record, with more than 4300 capital city homes to go under the hammer this weekend.

Property data firm CoreLogic reports with 4353 capital city auctions scheduled, it is the busiest week in their history or when their records began in 2008.

Three cities will boast all-time auction records including Sydney (1656 homes), Adelaide (308 homes) and Canberra (183 homes).

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CoreLogic research analyst Kaytlin Ezzy said this week's auctions are set to be double the number recorded in the same week last year.

"If previous years are anything to go by, the peak in auction activity for this time of the year generally occurs between the last week of November and the second week of December," Ms Ezzy said.

"Considering housing market conditions remain firmly skewed towards the vendor, it's likely auction markets will remain buoyant at least through the first two weeks of summer before auction activity slows approaching the festive season.

"Traditionally auction markets ramp up in early February and move through another cyclical high leading into Easter.

"With such strong selling conditions likely to continue once the festive season ends, we could see auction activity ramp up earlier than usual in 2022."

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Many owners will likely be looking to capitalise on the red-hot market, which has seen Australian dwelling values rise by an eye-watering 22 per cent in the past 13 months.

Even predictions by Commonwealth Bank analysts that house prices will fall by 10 per cent in 2023 place values back to where they currently are.

"Interest rates become a headwind on property prices if they are rising," Gareth Aird, Head of Australian Economics at the Commonwealth Bank, wrote.

"That is the place we believe we are moving towards over the next two years given our expectation for the RBA to commence normalising the cash rate in late 2022.

"We expect prices to continue to rise through the first half of 2022, but at a more modest pace.

"We look for prices to peak in late 2022 around seven per cent higher than end-2021 levels.

"We then expect an orderly correction indwelling prices of 10 per cent in 2023."

A Queensland snake catcher has dispelled the myth that snakes are primarily landbound and capturing photographic proof that they actually climb.

Stuart McKenzie from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 was called out to a job at Nambour, where he found a red bellied black snake climbing the face of a rock wall.

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"One of the buggiest myths we hear on jobs is that venomous snakes can't climb," Mr McKenzie posted online.

"This is certainly not true! Many species of venomous snakes have climbing abilities – even though a lot of the time we see venomous snake cruising around on the ground, it doesn't mean they don't use those climbing abilities from time to time when on the move for food, shelter or water."

Mr McKenzie said even with the severe wet weather Australia's east coast has been having, snakes are still out and about with the rain and heat causing string humidity.

At least 31 migrants died after a boat capsized in the English Channel, off the coast of Calais, northern France, on Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.

Speaking outside a hospital in Calais, Mr Darmanin said five women and a little girl were among the dead.

Two people were saved and one person is still missing, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson both expressed horror at the tragedy and sent their condolences to the families of the victims.

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Mr Macron said his country would not let the English Channel become a graveyard and urged his European counterparts to increase efforts to avoid future tragedies.

"To the families of the victims, to their loved ones, I want to express my compassion and the unconditional support of France," the President said in a statement.

"I assure them that everything will be done to find and condemn those responsible, networks of smugglers who exploit misery and distress, endanger human lives and ultimately decimate families," he added.

Mr Macron said France had been working with the UK for several months to dismantle smuggling networks.

"Since the beginning of 2021, thanks to the mobilisation of 600 police officers and gendarmes, 1,552 smugglers have been arrested on the northern coast and 44 smuggling networks have been dismantled," he said.

"Despite this action, 47,000 attempts to cross to Great Britain have been made since January 1st, with 7,800 migrants saved by our rescue services."

France's regional maritime prefecture earlier said a search-and-rescue operation for survivors was ongoing in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, and described it as the worst-ever accident in the stretch of water.

The country's sea minister Annick Girardin said French, British and Belgian helicopters were searching for the missing.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex described the incident as a "tragedy."

"My thoughts are with the many missing and injured, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery," he said in a tweet.

Dangerous crossing

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "shocked and appalled, and deeply saddened by the loss of life at sea".

"My thoughts and sympathies are, first of all with the victims and their families, and it's an appalling thing that they have suffered," Mr Johnson told reporters.

"But I also want to say that this disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the Channel in this way.

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"And it also shows how vital it is that we now step up our efforts to break the business model of the gangsters who are sending people to sea in this way, and that's why it's so important that we accelerate if we possibly can all the measures contained in our borders … so that we distinguish between people who come here legally, and people who come here illegally."

He added that the authorities would "leave no stone unturned to the business proposition of the human traffickers and the gangsters … who are literally getting away with murder".

Mr Johnson said it was time for the UK, France and Europe to "step up" and work together. He was due to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in response to the tragedy, his spokesperson said.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement that the tragedy "serves as the starkest possible reminder of the dangers of these Channel crossings organised by ruthless criminal gangs".

She added: "We will continue to intensify all cooperation with France and other European partners to prevent migrants embarking on these deadly journeys."

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On Monday, France's Ministry of Interior announced it was sending equipment and vehicles worth over 11 million euros ($17 million) as part of an agreement with the United Kingdom, "to secure the coastal strip extending over more than 130kms, from Dunkirk to the Bay of Somme".

It added that "the police and gendarmes will have additional resources to carry out the mission of fighting illegal immigration".

Last week, 243 people were rescued in the English Channel as they tried to cross to the UK.

More than 25,700 people have crossed the English Channel to the UK so far this year in small boats, according to data compiled by Britain's PA Media news agency.

This is three times the total for the whole of 2020, PA reports.

All three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery were convicted of murder in the US over the fatal shooting that became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice.

The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael and neighbour William "Roddie" Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours.

The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole.

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Travis McMichael stood for the verdict, his lawyer's arm around his shoulder. At one point, McMichael lowered his head to his chest. After the verdicts were read, as he stood to leave, he mouthed "love you" to his mother, who was in the courtroom.

Moments after the verdicts were announced, Mr Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr, was seen crying and hugging supporters outside the courtroom.

"He didn't do nothing but run and dream," the father said.

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The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue the 25-year-old Black man after seeing him running in their neighbourhood outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick in February 2020.

Bryan joined the pursuit in his own pickup and recorded mobile phone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Mr Arbery.

Though prosecutors did not argue that racism motivated the killing, federal authorities have charged them with hate crimes, alleging that they chased and killed Mr Arbery because he was Black. That case is scheduled to go to trial in February.

The jury sent a note to Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley soon after returning to court Wednesday morning asking to view two versions of the shooting video — the original and one that investigators enhanced to reduce shadows — three times apiece.

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Jurors returned to the courtroom to see the videos and listen again the 911 call one of the defendants made from the bed of a pickup truck about 30 seconds before the shooting.

The disproportionately white jury received the case around midday Tuesday and spent about six hours deliberating before adjourning without a verdict.

The McMichaels told police they suspected Mr Arbery was a fleeing burglar when they armed themselves and jumped in a pickup truck to chase him.

Bryan joined the pursuit when they passed his house and recorded mobile phone video of Travis McMichael blasting Mr Arbery at close range with a shotgun as Mr Arbery threw punches and grabbed for the weapon.

On the 911 call the jury reviewed, Greg McMichael tells an operator: "I'm out here in Satilla Shores. There's a Black male running down the street."

He then starts shouting, apparently as Mr Arbery is running toward the McMichael's idling truck with Bryan's truck coming up behind him: "Stop right there! Damn it, stop! Travis!"

Gunshots can be heard a few seconds later.

The graphic video death leaked online two months later, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case, quickly arresting the three men.

Each of them was charged with murder and other crimes.

Defence attorneys contend the McMichaels were attempting a legal citizen's arrest when they set off after Mr Arbery, seeking to detain and question him as a suspected burglar after he was seen running from a nearby home under construction.

Travis McMichael testified that he shot Mr Arbery in self-defence, saying the running man turned and attacked with his fists while running past the idling truck where Travis McMichael stood with his shotgun.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence Mr Arbery had committed crimes in the defendants' neighbourhood. He had enrolled at a technical college and was preparing at the time to study to become an electrician like his uncles.

Former National Party leader Simon Bridges has tonight been demoted and “relieved of his portfolio responsibilities” following an allegation of serious misconduct relating to an interaction with a female caucus colleague.National…

Two quick-thinking tradies have been hailed heroes after pulling a woman from her burning home in Adelaide.

When smoke started billowing from the Oaklands Park house, roof plumbers Tyrone Anthonysz and Ashley Gow-Smith dropped their tools and raced inside.

"I opened the door and I was yelling out 'is anyone in here?'" Mr Anthonysz said.

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"It was a real muffled cough 'cause obviously she was probably out of breath and choking."

"Man, she was just lying there pretty lifeless," Mr Gow-Smith said.

Witness Damien Tucker said the house appeared to be "well and truly engulfed" in flames.

"One of the windows blew and then the flames started licking out the outside of the house," Mr Tucker said.

The workmates were overcome with emotion and sat with the woman on Johnstone Road until emergency crews arrived just after 8am.

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"We both managed to drag her out the house," Mr Anthonysz said.

"(I) asked if she was alright, I got a little nod and just little flickers of life started to come back," Mr Gow-Smith said.

The 65-year-old woman was then taken to the Flinders Medical Centre suffering minor burns and smoke inhalation before she was transferred to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for further treatment.

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Firefighters said if it weren't for the roof plumbers risking their own lives at the home, another life would have been lost.

"Thank God those tradies were there otherwise she might not be with us now," Michael Pearce from the Metro Fire Service said.

"Their actions definitely saved her life."

Mr Anthonysz said he was "overwhelmed" after the life-saving deed.

"It's emotional to think if we were 30 seconds later, we may not have been able to get in the house to get her out," he said.

Neighbours Jason and Sharmaine Simpson also evacuated their home with their four young children.

They watched on as fire cause investigators sifted through the rubble and found a candle left unattended.

"They're just such beautiful people," Ms Simpson said.

"I'm so sad for them makes me want to cry."

https://twitter.com/katelambe_/status/1463394155514658816

Sydney house prices are expected to peak next year then fall by up to 10 per cent as the market finally swings in favour of buyers.

It comes as sellers rush to cash in on the current property boom.

Sydney property prices jumped by 25 per cent on average this year.

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Prices may still grow another five per cent early 2022 but are expected to peak in the second half of the year.

Prices could then fall in 2023.

"Sydney prices could be off about 10 per cent in 2023," Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital, said.

"That's particularly if the reserve bank starts to raise interest rates as we expect."

Experts believe the property boom is coming to an end which has spurred sellers to cash in on the high prices before the end of the year.

"I think the party is in the process of coming to an end but we'll probably still see some more gains next year," Mr Oliver said.

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Properties in Hawkesbury, Richmond and Windsor, Botany, Dural and Pittwater are being put on the market at a higher rate.

There are 1100 auctions set for Sydney this weekend which is yet another record this year.

There was an auction clearance rate of 71 per cent last weekend which is the lowest in five months.

That means more choice for buyers.

"Buyers are feeling a little bit more confident with a pep in their step and actually knowing they do have options if they miss out on one house," Alice Stolz from Domain said.

"They can now go around the corner with listing volumes up."

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For people looking to invest rather than occupy, ME Bank research has identified the top 20 suburbs in the country – eight of which are in Sydney.

The best buys are a house in Five Dock, a townhouse in Rozelle, apartments in Parramatta, Crows Nest, Waterloo, North Sydney and Pyrmont along with houses in Concord.

"There's strong rental growth, of course, where they'e convenient transport or public transport access nearby and median house prices grow as well," Chris McNeil, ME Bank demographer, said.