Mystery surrounds the future of The Block in New Zealand, with the popular renovation show conspicuously absent from Three’s 2024 line-up and producers tight-lipped about its return.
Three’s owner, Warner Brothers Discovery, told OneRoof this week it did not have any further updates about The Block NZ at this stage, even as real estate professionals said the market was ripe for the show’s return this year.
A year ago the media company announced it was postponing The Block NZ to 2024 following a disappointing end to the show’s 2022 season, when the winners’ house sold for only $4000 above the reserve.
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At the time Warner Bros Discovery cited challenges in the housing market as the reason for its decision.
“We’ve been monitoring the housing market very closely and due to the ongoing challenges that are occurring, we have made the tough but necessary decision to postpone the show to 2024 to give contestants and the show the best chance of success,” it said.
However, the show did not appear in the broadcaster’s 2024 line-up, which was revealed at the end of last year.
The absence was odd, given the recent turnaround in the New Zealand housing market and the continued success of the show in Australia.
OneRoof understands Warner Bros Discovery has already bought properties for a new season of The Block NZ.
A decision by the Overseas Investment Office in August 2022 shows Warner Bros. International Television Production New Zealand Limited was given consent to buy residential land from a vendor linked to a 1042sqm corner site in Auckland’s Browns Bay.
The Auckland site Warner Bros International Television Production New Zealand Limited was given consent to buy in 2022. Photo / Supplied
An artist's impression of the properties planned for the site when it was listed. Photo / Supplied
According to the OneRoof listing, the property at 850 Beach Road came with resource consent for four two-storey standalone houses with sea views.
According to the proposed plans, the four two-storey houses range in size from 146sqm to 220sqm.
It's not certain if Warner Bros Discovery went ahead with the purchase. The company's name does not appear on the title records, with the last recorded transaction for the property, for $2.575 million, dated March 2022.
When asked if it owns the site, Warner Bros Discovery replied no comment.
If the media company does decide to bring The Block NZ back, market conditions will be better than they were at the end of 2022, when house prices were in the midst of a slump.
Ray White lead auctioneer Sam Steele, who has been involved with previous seasons of The Block, told OneRoof 2024 would be a great year for the show.
“I certainly haven’t been informed if it’s going ahead or not, but I’d certainly be very positive [if it did return this year],” he told OneRoof.
“From the sales results we’ve seen in January so far, it’s all positive signs going forward.”
Steele said the sorts of properties featured in the show were usually in the first-home buyer window for Auckland, and were usually beautifully renovated.
“It’s always a combination of first-home buyers, investors, downsizers and all that sort of thing but what the real bonus for the couple of years that I’ve been involved, a real added selling point is that those houses come completely furnished,” he said.
Ray White lead auctioneer Sam Steele: “From the sales results we've seen in January so far, it's all positive signs going forward.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
“They get all the furniture, they get the cutlery, the couches, the beds. It is a house where someone can just move in and they are done.”
The furniture is from high-end stores and is perfect for the space.
Steele said while there were still people who want to put in elbow grease on an older property and put their own stamp on it, there was an attraction in having something ready to move into that people don’t have to spend another cent on.
“A lot of people, especially when they’re buying their first home, they might not necessarily want lots of land, they want the easy-care lifestyle, and if they are buying the home in a major city it’s likely they are going to be working a lot to pay for the thing so that easy-care, walk-in is certainly something that’s very attractive to a lot of people.”
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