Relief and jubilation as The Block contestants reflect on their sales and their time on the show.
- Will and Karlie win The Block, take home $815,000
- As it happened: The Block auctions
- The Block auctions smash suburb price records
This year’s season of The Block had the ingredients to be a flop.
If you take away the TV show sparkle and smart casting — likeable characters who clashed and cried their way through the tough 12 week renovation — from a property market perspective, the producers took a gamble.
In real estate, when millions are at stake, the accepted wisdom is that gambles are best left in the bookies’ ring at Flemington on Cup day.
A once-derelict soap factory in the industrial part of Port Melbourne, this year’s building was a 1920s ugly duckling turned swan. Photo: Martin Philbey
Fishermans Bend, where this year’s Block is located, is a long-unloved, industrial quarter of Port Melbourne, coddled between the CBD and the bay.
Its rezoning was rubber stamped in 2012 by then-planning minister Matthew Guy, as one of the largest urban renewal projects in a generation.
The Block, a once-derelict 1920s soap factory at 164 Ingles Street, is at the heart of Fishermans Bend. Neighbouring properties are a motley mix, from terraces on the South Melbourne side, to warehouses and factories near the Docklands edge.
This part of Port Melbourne had been better known for hosting VFL grand finals at North Port Oval (across the road from The Block), and a thoroughfare on the way to a lunch of the famous chilli prawns at iconic seafood restaurant Rubira’s, on nearby Station Street.
They are a good starting point, but for buyers naturally seeking established infrastructure, convenient shopping and cafes close enough to whiff the roasting beans, this part of Melbourne is on the brink of such change.
However, its proximity to the city and water, 7000 approved apartments and the promise of 60,000 jobs in technology, education and design, indicates this tract of Port Melbourne won’t be under the radar for much longer.
The Block creator Julian Cress and architect Julian Brenchley took a gamble this season. Photo: Pat Scala
But for the moment, it is, which represented a roll of the dice for The Block producers, Cavalier Productions.
Over its 12 seasons, producers always have chosen safe, triple-A suburbs in which to film; South Yarra and Albert Park in Melbourne, and Vaucluse and Bondi in Sydney, among others.
The method was to buy in long-established suburbs with cachet, enhancing all the more the appeal of residences created on a national TV show.
Now in its 12th season, fans are still as loyal to The Block, shown by the turnout at this year’s open day. Photo: Chris Hopkins
Buyers enjoy the bragging rights that go with inking a Block apartment contract — it is one of the simple reasons these properties fly under the hammer — but this year, producers asked for their faith as much as their money.
Channel Nine banked on the heritage-protected hallmarks of the apartments, and house-sized proportions, to be alluring enough. Buyers were cautious, agents said, ahead of the high-pressure auctions.
The show’s connections chose Fishermans Bend knowing the future is bright. Teams, their real estate agents and Nine had to hope that buyers shared their opinion.
A bidder gets ready to battle for the keys at The Block 2016 auctions in Port Melbourne. Photo: Josh Robenstone
And they did, and they let their wallets do the talking. The prices paid on the auction finale episode have set a per square metre record for Port Melbourne, and in an area of the market which is untested and unproven.
Bidding at Ingles Street was the most aggressive yet.
However, the pool of bidders is still smaller than the party pies served in the cheap seats at the neighbouring footy oval.
Likeable characters helped the show resonate this season. Photo: Josh Robenstone
Four of the five apartments were snapped up by buyers’ advocates — three by Nicole Jacobs, and one by Frank Valentic, both of whom have appeared as guests on the show, and are prolific purchasers of past Block properties for clients.
As much as the show mixes up the format, with varied real estate and architecture, inventive challenges and contestants to love or hate, the end game — auctions day — are a case of deja vu.
Why the broader property industry doesn’t attend the auctions and have a crack is a mystery. Tax depreciation schedules for investors, because the apartments are fully fitted-out and furnished (known as “turn key”), are favourable. Investors can reap the cost of the apartment back over the 10 ore more years.
Next year’s Block — the 13th season — will be confronted by fresh challenges. Indications are the apartment market will come off the boil, and the hefty prices achieved over the past few seasons, which translates to happy contestants and elated fans, will be ambitious.
The 2017 series is likely to test those behind The Block, which has proven itself to be a mini development company as much as a game show, even more than the art deco goliath did in Port Melbourne.