The Block finale 2017: Live coverage of the auctions

Welcome to Domain’s live coverage of The Block auctions for season 13. Good to be with you.

• The Block finale 2018: Live coverage of the auctions

This live article is no longer being updated

8.52pm: Here’s our wrap of the finale. Thanks for being with us!

8.50pm: And that’s a wrap for season 13! And there’s another to come next year – St Kilda’s Gatwick Hotel the next site to be rejuvenated.

8.49pm: Humble to the end, Clint recognises the fact that The Block allows people to turn their lives around.

8.48pm: And so, Josh and Elyse have won The Block 2017, with a prize total of $547,000.

8.47pm: Hannah is “over the moon” at the outcome and the two of them plan to invest it in another property for a second renovation. Good grief, already?!

8.47pm: And sold! Hannah and Clint take home $95,000.

8.46pm: Frank has the higher bid here,  $95,000 above reserve at $2.615m.

8.46pm: Hannah seems lost for words.

8.45pm: And there’s Frank again, kicking off another flurry with Nicole.

8.45pm: And we’re still $20,000 off reserve.

8.45pm: And some very quick bidding here. But Frank (again!) appears to be out.

8.44pm: Opening bid of $2.41m.

8.44pm: To take out the win, Hannah and Clint have to reach $2.967m. Big ask.

8.43pm: These guys are actually the nicest people.

8.42pm: And in case you’re wondering, given our live viewer counter has broken, there are now 14,000 of us here. Thanks again for being with us.

8.40pm: Personally, I’ve been a big fan of Hannah and Clint’s (apart from THAT spa). They’ve really come a long way and had the right attitude throughout.

8.38pm: This would be a stunning victory for Hannah and Clint, but it would mean they need to get bidding up above $3m, which seems extremely unlikely.

8.36pm: And here come Hannah and Clint. Their auctioneer is Damien Cooley, who has won several Block auctions before.

8.35pm: So there we go; that places Ronnie and Georgia third, with Sticks and Wombat now fourth.

8.34pm: Nicole’s client’s best offer is $2,781,000, which would give Ronnie and Georgia a $161,000 profit.

8.33pm: This is the first pass-in on The Block since 2011 – when three of four in Cameron Street Richmond passed in.

8.33pm: Now the call is with Nicole.

8.33pm: $2.725m is Frank’s best offer, according to Stavrakis.

8.32pm: Ronnie says they have won regardless of the outcome because he and Georgia are simply on The Block.

8.31pm: Of course, it could be argued that people should have put a bid in when they had an opportunity.

8.30pm: That passes the test, too, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria.

8.28pm: There’s sure to be some confusion after that call from Ronnie and Georgia but it does allow them to negotiate for a higher price than they would have received under the hammer.

8.25pm: If the contestants were shocked at that decision, it was nothing compared to how those in the auction room reacted. There were audible gasps. It was a huge shock to the crowd.

8.24pm: They have chosen not to allow anyone else to bid.

8.24pm: If the property is passed in, Ronnie and Georgia can negotiate with the highest bidder.

8.23pm: “We’re up against it,” says Stavrakis, after suggesting the auction be restarted. And he thinks it highly unlikely it will reach $2.8m.

8.22pm: Ronnie and Georgia are about to negotiate with Mr Stavrakis. They seem, in a word, stunned.

8.21pm: We are an inch away from reserve but it is quite flat in here. Georgia and the rest of the contestants are worried.

8.20pm: Frank Valentic has the leading bid at $2.6m but there is a definite lull here.

8.19pm: Ronnie and Georgia hope for $100,000 above reserve. Here is a opening bid of $2.5m.

8.18pm: And here is the auction of Peverell House, led by Bill Stavrakis of Biggin and Scott.

8.17pm: As Nicola Powell pointed out earlier, Melbourne’s clearance rate last weekend was 75%, meaning one in five houses either didn’t sell or passed in at auction.

8.15pm: OK, so a run of the board:

• Elyse and Josh are first, with a profit of $447,000
• Sarah and Jason are second, with $387,000
• Sticks and Wombat are third, with $130,000.

8.14pm: Ronnie and Georgia, come on down… (on that point … can we bring back The Price is Right?)

8.13pm: Shelley Craft, again: a class act.

8.12pm: And we’re sold at $2.65m, a profit of $130k for the guys. The other contestants are glum but anything can happen.

8.11pm: The contestants look very worried – particularly Georgia, who’s coming up next.

8.10pm: That is one quiet room.

8.09pm: The guys are rightly “stoked” to have got to this point.

8.08pm: While this amount seems small compared to the other two teams, most homeowners in Melbourne would be chuffed with a $130,000 profit.

8.08pm: So here we go for some negotiations.

8.06pm: (And yes, that is me behind Frank. Talk about a poor position to avoid the limelight!)

8.06pm: But now at $130,000 … the bidding seems to have slowed.

8.05pm: Very quick bidding means the guys go from $5k profit to $80k in seconds.

8.05pm: Opening bid of $2.41m from Frank Valentic. And Nicole Jacobs quick with a $2.5m response.

8.04pm: Noel Jones auctioneer Daniel D’Assisi taking the auction here.

8.03pm: Enjoying the musical touch of Calvin Harris’ Feels here. There’d be a lot of “feels” going on right now.

8.02pm: And welcome to the 1700 of you who’ve joined our live fun in the past 15 minutes.

8.00pm: And now to Sticks and Wombat. These guys were able to market their “raw luxury” very well once the house was listed for sale.

7.59pm: Sarah and Jason will now be able to change their family’s life with that sort of cash. Some very emotional contestants as they hug their children.

7.58pm: 46B Regent Street, sold to a client of Nicole Jacobs.

7.58pm: And sold! $3.007m, $387,000 over reserve – putting Sarah and Jason second.

7.56pm: Nicole is determined here, now at $3.007m.

7.56pm: And there’s the man in the blazer … back again!

7.55pm: Nicole is not letting this one go – she just cracked $3m. Frank claims to be out at this point.

7.55pm: And we’re nudging $3m … another huge result for the other half of the “bookends”.

7.54pm: Jason and Sarah’s place is actually really awesome and the hydronic heating really worked yesterday!

7.53pm: And an opening bid from Nicole Jacobs is closely followed by another from Frank Valentic.

7.53pm: Phillip does know how to work a crowd – he had many of us in the room laughing for quite a while.

7.52pm: And here we are with Gary Peer auctioneer Phillip Kingston. Sarah and Jason let their kids be in the front row for this auction in an attempt for some emotional blackmail!

7.52pm: After years of financial stress, Sarah and Jason could soon turn things around for themselves with this result.

7.51pm: And the buyer of Josh and Elyse’s place was Dave Hughes! A savvy investment for the comedian.

7.50pm: Nice shot of the Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors – their presence was definitely noted by more than one auctioneer!

7.49pm: OK, here we go for Sarah and Jason’s auction. They’re definitely the dark horses. Will they pull off a Winx-like performance?

7.48pm: Nice to have all 2600 of you here with us – hopefully one of them is my mum … she did promise to read my work for a change.

7.45pm: “That’s lifechanging,” says Elyse of their prize. Will any other teams top that figure? It’s possible.

7.45pm: That’s 46A Regent Street sold to a client of Greville Pabst.

7.44pm: And sold! $3.067m, $447,000 over reserve. Well done Elyse and Josh.

7.44pm: And Frank is well and truly out. But sounds like he could have a bit to spend elsewhere.

7.43pm: This is a strong result for the first auction and especially for a couple in their 20s.

7.43pm: Spoke too soon, he’s back!

7.42pm: Frank seems to be out.

7.42pm: Frank Valentic v Greville Pabst, a strong competition as we increase our bid increments.

7.41pm: Nearly to $3m, which seems to bode well for the rest of the teams.

7.40pm: And this is quick bidding. $180,000 above reserve already.

7.40pm: $2.6m opening bid from  Frank Valentic.

7.39pm: And here is auctioneer David Wood, from Hocking Stuart. Elyse and Josh are hoping to reach $3 million but they are grateful for the Block experience.

7.38pm: Here are the buyers’ advocates –  stars of The Block in their own right.

7.37pm: Keep it north! And shoeless.

7.37pm: And here we go, with Elyse and Josh.

7.36pm: I feel Shelley Craft is the most underappreciated part of this show.

7.35pm: Elyse’s puffy sleeves are very on point.

7.34pm: Let’s roll. “We just don’t want to be that couple that doesn’t sell,” says Georgia, as they order coffees.

7.31pm: Here’s a sneak peek of Frank Valentic’s blazer. Typically loud, but not garish. Solid choice, Frank.

7.29pm: Hannah is talking a strong game. Everyone loves an underdog. Fingers crossed.

7.28pm: Unsurprisingly, the reserves are a bone of contention. Are these guys ever calm?

7.27pm: So there are the reserves: Clint and Hannah and Sticks and Wombat at $2.52m and the rest at $2.62m.

7.26pm: Georgia’s left rattled by the adverse coin flip but could be up for a drink. (Me too – there’s still an hour to go here.)

7.25pm: And a coin toss will decide this. Scientific method for a multimillion-dollar outcome.

7.24pm: “From day 1 it’s been them against us,” Georgia says of the stand-off. That’s probably true of them and all the other teams.

7.24pm: And here we are again on an auction eve … a barney between two teams. Though it’s nothing compared to last year’s yelling match.

7.22pm: Sticks and Wombat elect not to show their reserve price, to the surprise of the other teams.

7.21pm: It is interesting that Georgia and Ronnie have created that niche (it’s completely true) … you’ve got to hope with those types of properties that your buyers come to play, so to speak.

7.20pm: What do you think – are Georgia and Ronnie right to hold on to third position?

7.18pm: Georgia continuing the “we appreciate their advice” theme … in that tone that suggests “Yeah nah”.

7.17pm: Sarah and Jason agree they would like to go second, but Georgia claims she has five bidders registered, so would like to go third – the same position Sticks and Wombat want.

7.16pm: Josh and Elyse agree to go first but Georgia remains downcast.

7.15pm: Georgia and Ronnie have now created a niche market, which isn’t to everyone’s benefit, says Shaynna. Georgia disagrees that the house is polarising. I’m shocked.

7.14pm: Harmony, on this series? Good luck!

7.13pm: The strongest buyer interest is Josh and Elyse and Sarah and Jason, says Domain managing editor Alice Stolz. This means they should go first, she says.

7.12pm: A tough day at the office, says Jason. Unlike the office, you can’t control an auction. 

7.11pm: Hannah and Clint … and the other teams, too, are pretty disheartened and shocked at the prices set here.

7.11pm: Ronnie and Georgia are disappointed from the get-go at how high the reserves are. “We feel like we probably won’t be making any money.”

7.10pm: Now to the reserves. And these could also be tricky.

7.09pm: This is always the hardest discussion the teams have. Often descends into argument, so it’ll be a near miracle if that can be avoided this time.

7.08pm: The last supper? Who’s doing the betrayal?

7.07pm: Those security guards have clearly never tried to reveal a room to meet Shaynna’s expectations.

7.06pm: Prosegur: where no employee is free of tattoos.

7.05pm: Oh these reserves are actually being dug up. That’s dramatic.

7.05pm: What do we think of Josh’s man bun?

7.04pm: The Ronnie and Georgia v everyone saga has really dominated outside of the room reveals, hasn’t it? I almost forgot by how much.

7.03pm: Hopefully a montage of the tradies who’ve won our hearts this year is soon to follow.

7.02pm: Here we go! It is actually pretty incredible that this site was completely empty at the start of the year.

7.00pm: But first, a preview for Married at First Sight. Perhaps a little more emotional than The Block auctions, but not by much!

6.57pm: I was at the auctions yesterday, and trust me, what we’re about to see is going to be full on.

6.54pm: One point to keep in mind – these auctions were just five of 1700 held in Melbourne yesterday, so competition from elsewhere, particularly neighbouring suburbs, was intense.

6.47pm: Who do you think will win? Our experts (and yours truly!) unanimously agreed Elyse and Josh were the favourites.

6.42pm: Earlier this week, judges Darren Palmer, Neale Whitaker and Shaynna Blaze declared that last year’s contestants Dan and Carleen Foley had the best room ever revealed on The Block.

6.36pm: That assessment of Sarah and Jason’s fortunes is in stark contrast, of course, to their dire position after master suite week.

6.32pm: Sarah and Jason have been this season’s most controversial team, but experts predict they stand a good chance of winning.

6.20pm: Josh and Elyse, after the pressure of this auction, will have another auction in just a few weeks. Read more here.

6.09pm: How will the houses sell? We spoke to a few Block experts to see how the houses would measure up on a record Melbourne auction day.

5.58pm: The auction order really makes or breaks the teams and how the houses sell. Read more here. 

5.51pm: Let’s take another look inside these five houses.

Elyse and Josh | 46A Regent Street, Elsternwick

Sticks and Wombat | 46B Regent Street, Elsternwick

Georgia and Ronnie | 46C Regent Street, Elsternwick

Clint and Hannah | 46D Regent Street, Elsternwick

Sarah and Jason | 46E Regent Street, Elsternwick

5.40pm: And of course, in 2015, there were two seasons: at the Blocktagon, the teams shared $2.53 million in prize money, and in Triple Threat, it was a record $3.165 million. 

5.33pm: While we wait for the auctions to start (just 90 minutes to go), let’s take a look back at how last year’s finale unfolded. The five teams shared an enormous prize pool.

5.30pm: Thanks for joining us tonight.