As the countdown to the highly anticipated Block auction day begins, judge Marty Fox admits he has no inkling as to which house will win the milestone 20th season.
“Every time I watch The Block, or I have, you know, been a judge last year, or an auctioneer year’s prior, you can kind of get a really good sense of who’s going to win … whereas this one, no can actually pick who’s going to win,” he told realestate.com.au.
The five Phillip Island Block homes are set to go under the hammer on Saturday, November 9, and the team whose house sells for the highest profit above the reserve price not only pockets any money above the reserve, but also get a $100,000 bonus prize.
Read more: Every room reveal of the season
This year asking prices for The Block are the lowest they have been for years, with every property having a price guide of less than $2 million for the first time in eight years. All five properties have price guides of $1,700,000 to $1,850,000.
However, this year’s asking prices exceed the median house price for Cowes, which was $765,000, and $821,000 for four-bedroom homes in the 12 months to October 2024, according to Proptrack.
Earlier in the series, when judging the main bedroom reveals and being so impressed by Courtney and Grant’s room, Marty stated he wanted to get Channel 9’s permission to bid at the auction.
He said he did follow through on that request with Channel 9 but was knocked back.
“So maybe I will have to twist some more arms!” he said.
Reflecting on the season, Marty said he felt it was less drama-filled than last year’s Hampton East series – even despite House 1’s original team Jesse and Paige quitting, and Kylie and Brad’s blow-up toward the end of the season.
“And this year they’re bigger properties, they’re away, it’s a different environment,” he said.
“It’s probably not as intense as it was last series, which I actually think is quite nice, but from a property perspective, these are proper sort of resort style homes, real holiday homes.
“Hampton it was a principal place of residence. This is different, so this is all about fun, this is all about different and bold because it is down in Phillip Island.
“It’s also probably the highest value versus the average sale price. If you look at other series of The Block, the value of those homes relative to the suburbs, it was you know, a small increase.
“These are genuinely double what the average sale price would be, so that in itself is quite unique.”
House 5 might have an edge
Buyer’s agent and Block regular Frank Valentic has seen first-hand the final results of the Blockheads blood, sweat and tears and will be representing a handful of buyers on the day.
“We’re hoping to bid on at least one to two properties and they’re mainly for Airbnb investors,” he told realestate.com.au
“We’re hoping to buy our 10th property on The Block … we’ve now bid on 55 of the 70.”
Mr Valentic said picking a winner was difficult as the auctions were always unpredictable.
“My buyers’ feedback over the first few weeks I have been down there, is that House 5 has got a point of difference,” he said.
“So they’ve been getting good feedback – double story with the reverse living, it’s sort of got district or tree views, which none of the other properties have.
“It’s got a big entertainers terrace where you are overlooking the countryside.
“That’s one that sort of stood out a bit, that might hold them in good stead.”
Potential auction day threats
The Victorian government’s increased taxes and tougher rules upon property investors could threaten auction day outcomes, Mr Valentic warned
“I’ve already had many investors say they would not look at The Block properties, or any properties, for that matter in Victoria anymore due to the new and increased land taxes and that’s including a number of my Sydney investors who have had a go at The Block in the past, and have said they wouldn’t touch Melbourne with a ten foot pole,” he said.
“If investors don’t turn up it could be a real big disaster for The Block on auction day, and the contestants could be left there with quite a few properties not selling for much above the reserve.
“It could really be a tough, tough day for the contestants [and] a tough day for The Block.”
Unlike last year, Marty said his agency White Fox Advocacy would not be representing any buyer on the day and he did not believe the tax changes will be a deterrent.
“The only issue is that because this is such an appealing resort and because it’s got such a massive tax depreciation schedule, you really do get the usual suspects (Danny Wallace and Adrian Portelli) who have got the massive incomes and they’re a really good buy,” he said.
“Let’s just say that somebody was to buy all five of them … in the whole they’re getting a $30 million tax deprecation schedule … that’s a $20 million windfall.
“Who wouldn’t try and buy all five if they had the capacity to?”
At the end of the day, the auction results came down to ego, Marty said.
“It all comes down to people bidding, so if the ego is big enough and the moment is big enough, than anything can happen,” he said.
Note
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