Entertainment & Music The new block 2017

Personally, I would never have bid on S&J's house, even if it was the best. Their workmanship was attrocious, especially with him being a plumber. I know that everything that was flagged did get fixed.....but......there's no telling how many shortcuts that lazy bugger took that didn't get noticed.

 

The reserve prices came to about $13 million, which I suspect will have gone a long way towards covering the production company's cost of the site and build.

On top of that there would be income (and savings) from:

• Money from Channel 9 to carry the show. I don't know what the prime time rates are, but it could potentially be a couple of million dollars per week.
• Commercial sponsorships and promotions. Most segments of the show have a "The Block brought to you by..." tag.
• Product placements. I suspect that a lot of materials are donated, and that companies pay to be featured.

Given that season fourteen was being teased, it's not an unprofitable venture for them.

As for the contestants, I think that Wombat will do well out of appearing on the show. He's become very popular, but he also struck me as being one of the smarter contestants.

Of the others, Elyse is the other one I could see becoming a major celebrity. She's young, attractive, and has a personality. She is a bit loud, though.

Winning over half a million isn't going to hurt Josh and Elyse's financial position, and they're likely to make a similar amount when they sell their Coburg house. (Here are the before pictures.) Getting a feature in Domain will help their sales campaign.

 

seriously thought there was only 2 people bidding, and the same 2 people every year, nicole and the bald dude, yeah andrew date had a go but that was nothing really the rest where all stickybeaks tbh.

 

Lol, comparing Australia to Ireland and other places again.

The Block finale just opened our eyes to a seriously depressing reality.

 

Australian property is cooked! Next sentence - you can buy 10 of these houses in Tasmania for the same same price as one Block house. Hahaha!! Maybe geography wasn't her strong point?

 

I seriously don't get these people. Year after year, decade after decade they whinge and most get no where. I remember in 2012 when Syd and Melb (and even Brisbane) were at bargain prices, the media and others were saying how real estate is over priced, market sentiment is all time low and prices are to stagnate. Then the next 4-5 years happened, lol.

 

Looking at the finished houses on the block - they're the pinnacle of property in Melbourne.. amazing homes.
At what point does a trash journalist think she, or anyone else on a low income, be entitled to buy one of these homes?

 

The journalist is coming from a completely different philosophical paradigm. The one that says I am entitled to anything the other person can have, and I don't have to put in the same effort or make the same sacrifices. It's my god given right as a human.

 

Australia is Ireland! It must be, because bubble, tulips, mania, fools!

 

Or the journalist is making the point that Australian property, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, is ridiculously expensive in comparison to most markets.

Sure, a couple of houses on The Block went for $3 million, and, as @vbplease pointed out, they're high-end properties. But it's possibly to spend nearly a million dollars on a small, uninhabitable terrace in inner Melbourne. That's not really affordable to someone on a typical income, or even an above-average salary.

 

Its all about supply and demand. In this case, the demand for great real estate in popular locations in Australia is simply there. Its like diamonds... why would anyone pay so much for real diamonds when tbh you can get some fantastic looking imitation ones for 1/5th the price? People pay that much money for real diamonds because the demand is there otherwise the price wouldn't be sustainable.

 

Well if any more Irish immigrate here it really could become an Irish paradise...

 

Should every person be able to afford an inner city home on a typical income? Logically, if we wanted to accommodate everyone who wanted to live in inner Melbourne there, compromises would have to be made: size of homes would have to shrink but people don't want to live in apartments. Either that or pay everyone ridiculous amounts so they can afford it, or drastically lower the price of property, increasing demand. Then demand would push up prices again. So...

What is the solution? Not every person can live in desirable areas because there is not enough room to fit them. Solution?

 

Or we could stop foreign investors from being able to purchase in Australia and it'd at least take some pressure off prices.

 

I don't know why people keep using the middle of the city as an example. Outer suburbs are now also unaffordable. Deer Park, where my family moved to when they first came to Australia, now regularly has houses selling for over 700k. This is almost as untrendy as a suburb can get and it would be difficult for normal/average income FHBs to buy these properties. But let's pretend everyone is only looking to buy in Elstenwick...

 

The point is, prices are not going to magically come down 50-70% in high demand areas. Why would they ? it's illogical to think otherwise. Demand is so strong and supply is tight. Now if you can change the supply or demand variables then perhaps. Its just not gonna happen imo. So if ppl cant afford a home in an area they like then they will have to sacrifice and go for a town house or unit or move further out. Right now there are 2 bedroom units in Sydney, less than 10km from the CBD for under 700k which is great value considering you are getting close to where many people want to live in a very popular city in the world. Will people move there? of course not. They want the new, shiny home with all the trimmings right now. It just aint gonna happen. Renting is always a good option. Ownership was never an entitlement.

 

I didn't say anything about entitlements. It's simply a verifiable fact that housing in Australia is, by and large, poor value for money compared to pretty much every other comparable city/country in the world. Stating that fact doesn't mean you have to start handing out free waterfront mansions

 

Am I right in reading that the Regent St block sold for $10.3M?

And assuming that each home was at least $600K that makes all the purchases great value IMO.