Queensland besties become instant millionaires on The Block
The TV show defied Australia’s dire property market with all five teams selling their homes for more than their reserves.
Source: The Block
Two Queensland besties have become instant millionaires and set a series record after winning TV juggernaut The Block.
All five teams on the 22nd season of the Nine reality television series sold their homes on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula for more than their reserves after months of renovations, room reveals and plenty of drama.
Queensland best friends Courtney and Sev emerged as the biggest winners in Block history, selling their House 4 property for $4.72 million and walking away with a staggering $1.27 million profit.
The result, combined with the pair’s competition winnings, brought their total haul to $1.87 million.
“It doesn’t feel real. It’s just the craziest thing. We don’t even know what to say,” Courtney said.
“We’re so grateful, and we could have never imagined that we’d be walking away with this kind of money and the prize pool.”
While every team finished up with cash in their pocket on Sunday, a successful auction was far from guaranteed.
Previous seasons have delivered disappointing profits and some properties remained on the market for months after the cameras stopped rolling.
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Sunday’s 100 per cent auction clearance rate also defied a notoriously difficult Melbourne property market.
There was even an added challenge this year, with all five reserve prices in Mount Eliza set at $3.45 million and publicly revealed ahead of auction day.
Under new Victorian laws, it is illegal for real estate agents to underquote a property’s reserve price in the days before an auction.
This means potential buyers have a clear idea of the price point houses are expected to reach.
“Make no mistake, The Block contestants are facing headwinds from every angle,” Domain national managing editor Alice Stolz said ahead of the finale.
“Over the past three months, while the teams have been building, house prices have been falling, recording their steepest quarterly decline on record.”
“Interest rates … at a 15-year high” also made things more difficult.
Stolz said the contestants had built some of the most beautiful homes in the show’s history.
“The appeal of these houses runs deep, attracting both owner-occupiers and investors, with the potential for substantial depreciation benefits and negative gearing,” she said.
Courtney and Sev’s result wasn’t even the only history-making moment of Sunday’s finale.
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Lisa and Rosco’s auction of house three was the longest in The Block‘s history, attracting more than 100 bids over 40 minutes.
The couple, who celebrated the arrival of their second baby a week earlier, eventually sold their home for $4 million, earning a tidy $550,000.
Chantel and Wyatt were nervous, with the first bid on their home coming in at $3.3 million – below the $3.45 million reserve. A bidder offered $3.7 million, putting the property on the market.
After some back-and-forth, the Gold Coast couple’s home sold for $3.817 million, delivering them a $367,000 windfall.
Adam and Jolene’s home sold for $3.905 million, delivering them a $455,000 profit.
“It changes everything. It means we don’t have to go away from work,” cattle station manager Jolene said through tears.
The home of Victorian father-daughter duo Rick and Tayla closed out the sales. With plenty of bidders still in the room, offers quickly climbed and house five sold for $4.355 million, handing Rick and Tayla a life-changing $905,000 profit.
The Block’s five homes each had something different to offer buyers.
Uptown, houses one, two and three, renovated by Adam and Jolene, Chantel and Wyatt, and Lisa and Rosco, offered views across Port Phillip Bay to the city skyline, while Downtown’s houses four and five, belonging to Courtney and Sev, and Rick and Tayla, had larger blocks of land.
Rick and Tayla went into the auction with an added advantage after winning the week 12 prize of $50,000 off their reserve price.
The homes were previously put to the test, with thousands of potential buyers getting the chance to inspect them at open homes for the first time in three years.
“Seeing thousands of people turn out gave our contestants a huge boost and let them see firsthand how much interest there is after so much hard work,” host Scott Cam said.
“You watch these teams work their guts out to build five extraordinary homes, and we just want every couple to walk away with a life-changing result.”
-with AAP
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