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The Block finale: Surprise buyer Dave Hughes rescues Elyse, Josh from sales slump

Elyse and Josh took home <i>The Block</i> title and $547,000 after comedian Dave Hughes bought 46A Regent Street.

Elyse and Josh took home The Block title and $547,000 after comedian Dave Hughes bought 46A Regent Street. Photo: Channel 9

Lingerie model Elyse Knowles and her carpenter partner Josh Barker may have taken home The Block title and $547,000 on Sunday night but the total prize money paid out by Channel 9 crashed to its lowest in three years.

Two of the other teams almost went home with nothing and all of the contestants were deeply unhappy with the high reserve prices on the five-bedroom homes in Elsternwick, Melbourne.

“I thought we’d got someone else’s,” lamented Sticks and Wombat as they revealed their $2,520,000 valuation – just $100,000 less than the hot favourites, Josh and Elyse.

Ronnie and Georgia, and Sarah and Jason were equally shocked because their properties were valued at the same level as the eventual winners.

Comedian Dave Hughes bought the winning home for $3,067,000 after registering to bid only one hour before the auction.

The Block Josh and Elyse

Josh and Elyse’s Elsternwick home sold for $3.067 million. Photo: Channel 9

“I live nearby and I drove past. I thought it was a good house in a good area and now I own it,” he said.

The auctions were held on Melbourne’s busiest Saturday auction day ever – with 1700 properties going under the hammer – which may go some way to explaining why bidding was slow for most of the houses.

Bidding actually stalled below the reserve for Ronnie and Georgia at $2,600,000. Much to the apparent anger of the real estate agents, host Scott Cam intervened and instructed that the property be passed in.

Buying agent Nicole Jacobs was clearly furious – despite not having placed a bid before the auction stalled. After tense negotiations commenced, she was allowed into the bidding and took the house for $2,781,000.

Ronnie and Georgia finished third with a profit of $161,000 over reserve.

Bidding stalled below the reserve for Ronnie and Georgia at $2,600,000.

Bidding stalled below the reserve for Ronnie and Georgia at $2,600,000. Photo: Channel 9

Sometime villains Jason and Sarah came second and took home $387,000. Perhaps they will now be able to finish the renovation on their home they began 10 years ago.

“I’m trying to stand up and not pass out,” Jason said.

“It changes our lives. That was our whole goal.”

Much-loved Sticks and Wombat took fourth place and walked away with $130,000, saying “we are stoked”.

First-time renovators Hannah and Clint sold their house for $2,615,000 after a tense auction where it looked like it too would be passed in. With tears of relief, they took home $95,000, which “clears our debts”.

These prices were much lower than was hoped for these houses and, as a result, Channel 9 paid out just $1,220,000 in prize money, well down from the $2,835,000 won on the Port Melbourne apartments last year.

Host Scott Cam revealed the next Block property – the Gatwick in St Kilda, the notorious “Hell Hotel” which has seen drug deaths and stabbings.

It’s hard to see how that property in that area of Melbourne can fetch anything like the prices seen in the last few seasons of The Block.

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