Just one home in The Block NZ broke the million mark, and while that was stunning result for the Kiwi version of the reality show, it was a far cry from the prices achieved in The Block Australia.
One apartment in The Block Australia sold under the hammer for more than A$3 million, but the other renovated flats were not far behind.
Despite Melbourne’s clearance rate hitting a six-year low last weekend - with plenty of warning signs not to sell five apartments in one day - all teams still managed to profit well above their reserve, pocketing enough to set themselves up financially.
The 2018 season of The Block Australia saw contestants convert a former Melbourne hotel into an apartment block.
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Two of the penthouses were snapped up by a tech entrepreneur living in Melbourne.
Buyer’s advocate Greville Pabst from PropertyDuo managed to secure the penthouses for A$2.991 million and A$2.859 million respectively.
Mr Pabst was bidding on behalf of his client, Aconex co-founder Robert Phillpot.
“He has now got the entire floor. I don’t know what his intentions are but he could actually create one massive penthouse,” Mr Pabst told news.com.au. “Or he could just rent both of them out.
“He is incredibly happy. He was expecting to pay over $3 million (each). I had a very big limit on the penthouses and I bought them incredibly well. They were a bargain. He was absolutely over the moon.”
Both penthouses are similar sizes, about 190sq m (excluding the terraces).
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom top-level apartment renovated by contestants Bianca and Carla had been the favourite for most of the Block series due to is luxurious space, open terrace and northwest facing position.
However, Bianca and Carla came in fourth position, walking away with $301,000 ($150,500 each) when their penthouse sold for A$2,991,000 (reserve, A$2.70 million).
The winners, Hayden Vale and Sara Tumino, took out the top prize when their apartment sold for A$3,020,000 - A$545,000 over their reserve.
“It seemed to be the one people wanted," Mr Pabst said of Bain and Carla's penthouse. "I was surprised it didn’t hit the $3 million mark."
Mr Pabst also secured one of the apartments for the former owners of the Gatwick Hotel, Yvette Kelly and Rose Banks.
The twin sisters sold the building to Channel 9 last year for $10 million.
“For me, that one was quite emotional. Yvette and Rose were both crying and I really wanted to buy it for them,” Mr Pabst told news.com.au “We had a big discussion about price and in the end I was right about how much it would roughly sell for ($2.77 million).”
In the 1950s, the twin sisters’ mother Vittoria Carbone bought the hotel to help the disadvantaged.
Mr Pabst also secured an apartment for an Aussie expat based in Singapore who works in a law firm.
“It’s the best apartment on the Block in my opinion — that $250,000 kitchen looking out onto St Kilda Park to the coffered ceiling and floor plan and to get all that for $2,850,000 is incredible value.”
Mr Pabst, who is the first buyer’s advocate in Block history to secure four out of five apartments, said he was pleased about the real estate industry as a whole in Melbourne.
“It’s such good news — to get a 100 per cent clearance rate is phenomenal and the market does need this confidence.”
All five apartments sold despite the city’s clearance rate hitting a six-year low last weekend at 49 per cent.
“We don’t have a property problem, we have a credit problem,” he said.
“I’ve got people that want to buy property but they cannot get finance, so it’s not a property problem, it’s a credit problem.”
What The Block Australia apartments sold for:
- Sara and Hayden's apartment: sold for A$3.02 million (prize money A$645,000)
- Kerrie and Spence's apartment: sold for A$2.85 million (prize money A$415,000)
- Courtney and Hans's apartment: sold for A$2,770,000 (prize money A$410,000)
- Bianca and Carla's apartment: sold for A$2,991,000 (prize money A$301,000)
- Norm and Jess's apartment: sold for A$2,859,000 (prize money A$209,000)
