The last of this year's The Block NZ homes has finally sold - more than two months after the show came to a heart-breaking conclusion.
The home worked on by contestants Quinn and Ben Alexandre passed in at auction at the end of September, but found a buyer just before the show's grand finale was broadcast weeks later.
However, the deal for the three-bedroom townhouse - reportedly for $1.16 million, $39,000 below the reserve - fell through and the property was put back on the market for sale at the start of November.
The listing agents, Ray White's Dylan and Zoe Turner, said the new-build house on Ringi Lane, in Orewa, on Auckland's northern fringes, was full of “dazzling light and luxe styling”.
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They marked the house as having been sold after withdrawing the listing on December 5. It is not known what the house sold for, and if Quinn and Ben would see any money from sale, with all the properties featured on The Block owned and put up for sale by the show's producers.
Contestants who take part in The Block get to keep any profit their house makes, with the amount calculated by how much the house sells over the set reserve.
Quinn and Ben would have earned nothing from the first post-auction deal as the sum offered, and subsequently withdrawn, was below the reserve of $1.199m. To walk away with nothing would be a gut-wrenching turn of events since they came back to the show with the intention of winning big, after their first appearance on The Block, in Season three, ended in just a $10,000 profit.
Quinn and Ben Alexandre look heartbroken as their house passes in at auction in The Block's grand finale. Photo / Three
The producers of The Block announced last week that the show was taking a break next year due to the “challenging housing market”. Senior director of production, Vicki Keogh, said in a statement that the show was “incredibly” important in the schedule but they wanted to give contestants the best possible chance of success.
“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,” she said.
Contestants Chloe Hes and Ben Speedy were crowned the winners of this year's show, but their victory was bittersweet. Their house fetched $1.145m at auction, just $4000 above the reserve – the smallest winning profit in the show’s 10-year history, and a harsh reflection of the change in Auckland's housing market.
Contestants Maree and James Steele sold their home at auction for $1,152,100, just $100 above the reserve, while contestants Stacy and Adam Middleton revealed last month that they had the “perfect redemption” by purchasing the three-bedroom townhouse they had spent weeks renovating.
The couple paid the reserve price of $1.148m after putting in an offer to buy it.
The three losing teams were given $10,000 each by show's sponsor, TSB, for their hard work.
On the market with a $1.695m price tag: the winning Block apartment from the 2019 season of the show. Photo / Supplied
The neighbouring sub-penthouse is also on the market for sale for $1.695m. Photo / Supplied
Mike Pero Orewa owner Lane Sanger told OneRoof in September that the price of townhouses in the area had dropped by about 20%. He said there were townhouses on Orewa’s main road which had been on the market earlier in the year for about $1.4m and were now taking enquiries around several hundred thousand dollars less. “I think it just shows you the lack of buyers verses the amount of available stock.”
The sale of the Ringi Lane house means The Block fans will have to look to previous seasons of the show to get their property fix. Two apartments from the 2019 season The Block NZ are currently on the market for sale.
The three-bedroom apartment at 3/516 New North Road, in Kingsland, Auckland, has a price tag of $1.695m and is being listed by Bayleys agent Jono King.
It had sold for $1.34m in The Block’s live auction finale three years ago, handing contestants Lisa Ridout and Chris “Ribz” Gordon a $150,000 win. It was the only property to turn a profit on the night.
The sub-penthouse apartment in the development, 4/516 New North Road, is also on the market with the same price tag of $1.695m, and is listed with Barfoot & Thompson agents Erin Whiting and Neil Dayal.
This is the first time three-bedroom apartment has been on the market since contestants Ethan Ordish and Sam Whatarangi sold it at reserve, for $1.39m, in September 2019.
Both apartments had passed in at auction last month.
