It’s officially Block finale day and the auction is about to be underway!
After the contestants had one last emotional get-together, it was time to reveal the reserves and auction order.
The teams were nervous as hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft sat them down with property expert Alice Stoltz from Domain who told them the current state of the market.
“Guys, the market is in a very different place than what it was this time last year. We’ve just gone through a massive rate of interest rate rises with another one this week. What’s that doing is putting pressure on prices and we’re seeing prices soften. What that means for this weekend, there is risk of not all properties selling,” she said.
The reserves are in!
(Image: Nine)
“Currently house one remains the most viewed property of The Block houses. Followed by house three. Followed by house five. House two. And house four. But things are changing very quickly at the moment. A lot happens between now and when that bell rings on Saturday.”
Scott then revealed that all teams went over budget in their final week of their build, putting it down to the cost of living post pandemic. But, he then declared he would be adding $0 to any teams’ reserve prices.
Every house had the same reserve this year.
(Image: Nine)For the most part, the teams were hoping for a reserve price with a three in front of it.
After Scott handed out the scrolls that held the reserve prices on them, the mood in the room wasn’t great as each team read $4,080,000.
“Historically no contestant has ever been happy with the reserve prices in the last 18 seasons,” Scott told the unhappy room. “Last year everyone was up in arms. It was going to be a mutiny. As it turned out, everyone was wrong. The reserve prices were spot on.
“Look, if no-one was willing to pay above 4 million, which is really the asking price, then we’d have no registered bidders, and we actually do. Anything can happen in this competition, I’m telling you. Anything happens.”
Tom and Sarah-Jane got to pick the auction order.
(Image: Nine)With the Domain super power to choose the auction order, Tom and Sarah-Jane deliberated with their real estate agent before making their final decision.
“It’s tough because, you know, there’s some that we’ve bonded with more than others and in my opinion some that deserve more than others because they’ve worked a lot harder. But it’s competition too. And this is solely what our agents have recommended in order to benefit us.”
Tom and Sarah-Jane were overcome with emotion as they were told to place their biggest threat, Dylan and Jenny, last, confessing this was the “hardest decision (they) had to make”.
They then revealed the auction order as follows:
1st, House 5: Omar and Oz
2nd, House 1: Tom and Sarah-Jane
3rd, House 2: Rachel and Ryan
4th, House 3: Ankur and Sharon
5th, House 4: Dylan and Jenny
