After 49 jam-packed episodes, The Block reached its dramatic conclusion on Sunday, with all five homes going under the hammer.
A solid field of bidders – including series veteran Danny Wallis – turned out to the rural Victorian town of Daylesford on Saturday, the site of the 2025 iteration of the Channel Nine series.
Despite concerns that the houses were priced way above the median for the area, the nerve-wracking auction day saw three of the five homes sell to successful bidders.
In a shock result, Western Australian couple Britt and Taz took out the top sale of the day – offloading their stylish House 3 for an impressive $3.41 million.
With a reserve of $2.99 million, the fan favourites walked away $420,000 richer – adding to that, a $100,000 bonus prize, netting them a total $520,000.
But it all went downhill from there.
After 49 jam-packed episodes, The Block reached its dramatic conclusion on Sunday, with all five homes going under the hammer. Pictured: Series co-host Shelley Craft
With a reserve of $2.99 million, fan favourites Britt and Taz (pictured) walked away $420,000 richer – adding to that, a $100,000 bonus prize, netting them a total $520,000
A solid field of bidders – including series veteran Danny Wallis (pictured) – turned out to the rural Victorian town of Daylesford on Saturday, the site of the 2025 iteration of the Channel Nine series
Serial Block bidder Adrian Portelli was absent from proceedings, with the winning bid coming from an anonymous phone bidder, after a battle with Melbourne rich lister and IT entrepreneur, Danny Wallis.
Fellow renovators Robby and Mat’s South Australian property fetched $3.099million, netting the best mates a meagre $109,999 profit.
The lads were bitterly disappointed with the winning amount, which they will have to split between them.
Meanwhile, Sonny and Alicia sold their home for $3.06 million – $120,000 above their $2.94 million reserve.
Despite the small yield, the couple were happy with the result.
But not everyone walked away with a sale, as both Emma and Ben, and Han and Can, failed to attract enough interest to get their properties over the line.
In heartbreaking scenes, Emma and Ben’s home was passed in after bidding stalled at their $2.99million reserve – and even a $3.10 million bid failed to help it generate interest.
Han and Can’s home also failed to sell, the ladies left facing the crushing reality that they were walking away from the show without having made a penny.
With a reserve of $2.99million, the fan favourites walked away $420,000 richer – but it all went downhill from there
Fellow renovators Robby and Mat (pictured) saw their South Australian property fetch $3.099million, netting the bitterly disappointed best mates a meagre meagre $109,999 profit
The lads were bitterly disappointed with the winning amount, which they will have to split between them
There were tears throughout the episode for Han and Can, who felt their journey on the show had been a disaster all round.
The only success story of the day, Britt and Taz were delighted with their win.
‘It’s phenomenal to walk away with a reward like this for all the hard work we have put into it. This is life-changing for us, it’s incredible. It’s our mortgage paid off,’ they said.
‘But it’s mixed emotions though as we really wanted everyone to walk away a winner and sell their houses. I thought our auction set the tone for everyone else. We took it upon ourselves to do that, and we were shocked more than anything.
‘We had worked as a team right to the end, so it’s just a bit hard for us to see what has happened today.’
Taz said he was very proud of Britt, as he wasn’t as eager to appear on the show.
‘We had put it on the back burner for the last few years as it was never the right time, but it got to the point where I couldn’t say no to Britt anymore. She never faltered from day one. She had a vision and she did it,’ he said.
Executive Producer, Julian Cress, admitted this season had been a slog.
‘Auction day is hard for all of us. There is no other day of the year we wake up feeling physically ill when we go to work,’ he said.
‘We are worried sick because we get so close to our contestants over the months and we want everyone to do well.’
Meanwhile, Sonny and Alicia (pictured) also scored a win, selling their home for $3.06 million – $120,000 above their $2.94 million reserve – and despite the small yield, they were happy
In heartbreaking scenes, Emma and Ben’s (pictured) home was passed in after bidding stalled at their $2.99 million reserve – and even a $3.10 million bid failed to help it generate interest
He continued: ‘It’s bittersweet to see two coppers from the Pilbara make half a million dollars at auction, which is amazing, but then to watch a young couple like Emma and Ben, who just had a baby, pass in, as well as Han and Can.
‘It was an up and down and sometimes very tough day for some.’
There were fears of an auction disaster in the lead-up to the big day, with the eye-watering price guides on the Daylesford homes raising some eyebrows.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the teams behind the five properties were hoping to fetch $3 million to $3.3 million for their creations.
However, the insanely high price guide did not match up with the median house prices in the Victorian town, where homes are four times cheaper.
According to PropTrack data recorded in July, an average home in Daylesford costs around $820,000, which marks a decrease of 7.1 per cent compared to the year prior.
What’s more, the price guides are quadruple what the median homes sell for, meaning there was real doubt many would sell at all or break local records.
‘As far as I’m aware, there’s only ever been one home within the township of Daylesford that ever sold for $3 million or above,’ Kim McQueen, director of McQueen Real Estate, revealed to realestate.com.au.
The agent, who is selling Robby and Mat’s house, didn’t seem too optimistic about bidders rolling in on auction day.
Han and Can (pictured) were also left heartbroken after their home failed to sell
Pictured: Han and Can’s property
There were tears throughout the episode for Han and Can, who felt their journey on the show had been a disaster all round
‘There are very few buyers at the best of times with $3 million or more to spend on a property in any regional location,’ she shared.
‘Now we’ve got five houses in a row with a $3 million-plus price range on them – that is not going to be easy.’
There was also a fair bit of chatter, in the lead-up to the auction, about whether serial Block bidder Adrian Portelli would put in an appearance at Daylesford.
Back in July, host Scott Cam sent a blunt warning to Portelli ahead of the season premiere.
Appearing on Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie, Cam begged Portelli not to attend this year’s auction to give others a chance to own a home.
‘To be honest we said to Adrian “we’d love you not to come next year, if that’s all right.” But you know it’s up to him it’s a public auction and he can do whatever he wants,’ he revealed.
‘He said he won’t come but he may come. We don’t know, but we do want to give mums and dads the opportunity to have a crack at a Block house.’
‘If Adrian comes and wants to buy the lot of them, well, that rules them out,’ Scott said.
There were fears of an auction disaster in the lead-up to the big day, with the eye-watering price guides on the Daylesford homes raising some eyebrows
The insanely high price guide did not match up with the median house prices in the Victorian town, where homes are four times cheaper. Pictured left: Scott Cam
‘Hopefully we get a few buyer advocates that come and are representing families. So hopefully they turn up and have a bit of a crack this year.’
During the 2024 finale of The Block, Adrian made history by purchasing all five of the properties for a huge $15 million.
He ensured Maddy and Charlotte Harry became the youngest-ever winners when he bought their home for $3.5 million.
Adrian’s company, LMCT+, has frequently raffled off properties from The Block, including last year’s $5 million purchase of Steph and Gian’s winning home.
