The Block 2018: Sara and Hayden win $645,000 in shock auction finale

Underdogs Sara and Hayden Vale have been crowned the winners of the 14th season of The Block, pocketing a $645,000 prize in an action-packed finale that resulted in all five apartments soaring past their reserves.

The results defied current trends in Melbourne’s softer property market, and came as a shock to contestants, buyers, buyer’s advocates and the show’s producers.

The stage was set for a stellar result for the Vales after they revealed Sara was pregnant with their second child moments before the auction began.

Their apartment sold for $3.02 million against a reserve of $2.5 million, which was reduced to $2,475,000 after an in-show challenge awarded them a $25,000 discount. The Vales take home the $545,000 their property sold over reserve plus a winner’s prize of $100,000.

The couple, portrayed as the villains of the series and regularly on the receiving end of criticism from the judges, said they were over the moon with the result.

“Even though we kept getting knocked down and knocked down, we came through with the win,” Ms Vale told Domain. “Being the underdogs has definitely made [winning] a bit sweeter.”

Buyer’s advocate Nicole Jacobs placed the winning bid on behalf of a couple downsizing from their family home in leafy Malvern.

In second place were South Australians Kerrie Charter and Spence Thomson, who are $415,000 richer after their apartment sold to a Singapore-based investor for $2.85 million.

How much did The Block apartments sell for?

• Sara and Hayden: 3/34 Fitzroy Street sold for $3.02 million  (prize money $645,000)
• Kerrie and Spence:  1/34 Fitzroy Street sold for $2.85 million (prize money $415,000)
• Courtney and Hans: 2/34 Fitzroy Street sold for $2,770,000 (prize money $410,000)
• Bianca and Carla: 5/34 Fitzroy Street sold for $2,991,000 (prize money $301,000)
• Norm and Jess: 4/34 Fitzroy Street sold for $2,859,000 (prize money $209,000)

Courtney Brown and Hans Baumgartner also defied expectations, with their apartment selling for $2,777,000 to Rose Banks and Yvette Kelly, the twin sisters who ran the Gatwick Hotel for decades before selling it to a Channel Nine production company for $10 million in 2017.

An emotional Ms Banks and Ms Kelly said they planned to retire in the building that used to be their home after “missing it terribly”.

The two penthouses, built as part of the show, were expected to be the strongest performers, but neither cracked $3 million.

The apartment renovated by Queenslanders Norm Hogan and Jess Eva sold for $2,859,000 against a $2.65 million reserve, while ex-netballers Bianca Chatfield and Carla Dziwoki will share $301,000 in prize money after their apartment fetched $2,991,000 against a $2.7 million reserve (reduced to $2.69 million).

View The Block 2021 properties for sale

• House 1, Ronnie and Georgia: 2 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 2, Mitch and Mark: 4 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 3, Tanya and Vito: 8 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 4, Josh and Luke: 10 Bronte Court, Hampton
• House 5, Kirsty and Jesse: 1 Bronte Court, Hampton

A mystery tech millionaire, who inspected the Gatwick only 36 hours before the auctions, snaffled up both top-floor pads, and said he thought he bought a bargain.

This year’s prize winnings of $1.98 million trump last season’s prize pool of $1.32 million, but pale in comparison to the 2015 and 2016 seasons when more than $2.3 million was given away.

Against 1399 other auctions and a citywide clearance rate of 48 per cent on Saturday, The Block bucked the trend by hitting a 100 per cent clearance rate.

Buyer’s advocate Greville Pabst, who bought four of the five properties, said it was a positive boost to the property market. “It’s a vote of confidence,” he said.

Fellow advocate Frank Valentic, the underbidder on four of the five properties, said he was shocked none of the properties had passed in.

“I thought I’d snap up some bargains today, but I got smashed in every auction.”

The Vales said the city’s recent low clearance rates had sparked nerves among the contestants.

“In such a bad market, we were just happy to sell, and for all of the apartments to sell,” Ms Vale said. “That was what was important to us.”

The couple plan to invest their winnings into a renovation project they are undertaking in Sydney. “And then I’m going to buy a Lamborghini,” Mr Vale joked.

The victory vindicated their controversial decision to pass on renovating a penthouse and opt for an apartment in the existing Gatwick building.

“We weren’t really interested in the top floor for the main reason that I could build this sort of thing any day of the week,” Mr Vale, a construction manager, said. “But, I really couldn’t renovate the old walls of the Gatwick, maybe ever.”

Jacobs said that all five apartments sold above reserve was proof The Block was a market entity of its own.

Several insiders had expressed concerns about the lack of car parking at the Gatwick, with numerous potential buyers said to have backed out for that reason. Each apartment had only one car space.