Anticipation ran high for the auction of The Block’s 2025 houses last weekend. With a price guide firmly set at $3 million to $3.3 million for the blocks, the scale and hype of the build was always ambitious.
Daylesford’s median house price hovers around $820,000, making these properties stand out as outliers. Even before the hammer fell, analysts were questioning whether the ultra-premium pricing might dampen buyer enthusiasm.
The results proved a mixed bag. One house, built by contestants Britt & Taz, sold for $3.41 million, yielding a profit of about $420,000 over reserve plus their prize money of $100,000.
However, not all the homes found buyers. Two houses were passed in and one of them, belonging to contestants Han & Can, failed to receive a single bid.
Industry insiders have been outspoken about the disconnect between the show’s reserve prices and Daylesford’s real estate fundamentals. One insider told realestate.com.au that reserves were set “more than $2 million above the Daylesford median house price”.
The reserves, set by Channel 9, were $2.99 million for four properties and $2.94 million for a fifth. Contestants might have felt hard done by with the price range advertised by agents between $3 and $3.3 million. If properties sold at the bottom of that range, contestants would have been left with a $10,000 profit for their four months work. If the unsold properties eventually sell at the reserve price, the contestants will wind up with a profit of zero.
The high reserves probably also stifled bidding. Rather than a competitive bidding contest between several bidders ramping up prices, some of the houses had but a single bidder on in one case, none.
Industry insiders also felt that it was unreasonable to expect five properties in a rural community to sell in a single day at $3 million plus when there has only ever been one property in Daylesford that has exceeded the $3 million mark.
For the homes that didn’t sell, the next phase is a private sale campaign. According to AllHomes: “House 1 and House 2 … failed to sell under the hammer and were passed in. … They have since returned to the market and will be sold via a private sale campaign.”
So, while the televised finale may have delivered (a small amount of) drama, the real financial exit remains to be seen as properties settle into the post-show marketplace.
The spotlight on Daylesford has turned up the volume on a town accustomed to gentler price growth. Yet the contest between media spectacle and market reality is laid bare. For the producers and contestants, the gamble was huge. For buyers, the true test lies in whether the homes deliver value beyond their TV provenance. And for Daylesford, the auction has both elevated its profile and raised questions about sustainable pricing for regional property.
As the dust settles, the tale of The Block in Daylesford reminds us that even the most glossy properties still answer to the fundamentals of location, value and buyer demand.
