Five months is a long time in real estate. When the first episode of this year's Block NZ aired back in June, the housing market was still absorbing the reintroduction of the loan to value ratio rules and the Government's tax hit on property investors.
Sales activity had dipped and house price growth had slowed, falling from 3.1% in April to 1.8% in June. Would the four houses the Block teams were busy renovating in Auckland's Point Chevalier fall victim to a turn in the market?
The reality show had already suffered a huge setback; the Covid outbreak in March 2020 put filming on hold for a year. In the meantime, New Zealand house prices had gone through the roof, with the country's average property value rising 25% to $972,072 in the 12 months to June 2021. A slump could hit just as the properties went to auction.
Tonight's grand finale, however, shows there's still juice left in the market and that demand for property, even in a lockdown, has not abated.
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Tim and Arthur were crowned the winners of ninth season of the reality TV show, after they collected an auction windfall of $660,000, plus $100,000 prize money, for a grand total of $760,000.
“We can’t quite believe what we’ve achieved at the auction and we’re overjoyed we get to share the success with the other teams,” they said after the win.
The duo's stylish townhouse, first to go under the hammer, fetched $2.825 million at auction, against a reserve of $2.165m. The remaining teams all sold their homes for sums that would have seen them take first place in previous seasons, with the average auction price for the season reaching $2.74m and the average auction profit a stellar $537,500.
Above, show favourites Dylan and Keegan won the People’s Choice Award - a brand new yellow Suzuki Jimny, pictured with Dylan below. Photos / Supplied
In second place were show favourites Dylan and Keegan, with a $2.745m sale and a profit of $590,000. Meg and Dan came third after their house sold for $2.7m and netted them a profit of $478,000. In last place were Connie and Rachel, who took home $422,000 from a $2.692m sale. Connie and Rachel had the highest reserve at $2.27m while Dylan and Keegan's house had the lowest at $2.155m.
The results were strong end for a show that started and ended in the midst of a pandemic. The four houses were due to be sold at the start of September in a live auction event, but the nationwide lockdown in August put everything on hold. In the end, the houses were sold at a closed online auction eight days ago, with the results kept secret until today's broadcast.
This season of The Block has smashed not just one but two show records: highest sale price and biggest profit, last set in 2016 when Auckland's housing market was at its peak. Tim and Arthur's $2.825m auction result is 75% ($1.2m) above the $1.61m that season five champions Sam and Emmett scored in 2016, while their $760,000 winnings is 73% above what Sam and Emmett walked away with.
The sale prices of all four Point Chevalier townhouses are largely in line with recent sales in the suburb; similar sized homes have in the last three month sold for between $3m and $4m, while larger standalone houses have fetched in excess of $5m.
Pre-production is already underway on season ten of The Block NZ - grandly titled Redemption, where four previous Block teams will return for a second chance to take out the win.
The show's new location has not yet been revealed, and it's possible that new records will be set, although rising interest rates could slow market activity when the houses eventually go to auction. But, as this season has showed, Block contestants and Auckland's housing market have faced worse odds and come out stronger.
