Billionaire splashes $15 million to buy all five houses on The Block

The shared amenity convinced Portelli to come to the auctions again despite spending millions over the past two years. The Young Rich Lister is worth $1.295 billion after founding LMCT+, an online subscription-based club offering shopping discounts and giveaways of cars and houses.

He even engaged buyer’s agent Mark Errichiello, of Master Advocates, who bought House 5 to avoid revealing during proceedings that he was winning each auction, but he thought this would be his final year of The Block.

“So I bought these houses, a little bit for a premium, but I get all the amenities that come with it”: Winning bidder Adrian Portelli (left) with another bidder at The Block auction.Credit: Nine

“I wanted the royal flush,” Portelli said. “I really wanted the amenities and I don’t like sharing.

“I think that’s what actually sold me, so when I came down I actually wasn’t too keen on bidding this year, however when I did see the clubhouse and all the amenities involved I was like, ‘well, essentially if you buy all the houses, you own all the amenities as well’. So I bought these houses, a little bit for a premium, but I get all the amenities that come with it.”

Winners Maddy and Charlotte Harry said it made sense that one person would own the whole block to control the communal area.

The sisters’ auction began with a quick $2.5 million bid, then a lightning-fast counter of $3.5 million from Portelli.

“It’s wild,” Charlotte said.

Maddy added: “I was a bit of a stunned mullet.”

Their agent, Kristina Walters of OBrien Real Estate, said the house had good interest during the campaign.

“We’re in a really good, positive market at the moment. It’s, of course, been a challenging couple of years before that when interest rates went up, but now we’re back on track,” Walters said.

The second-place winners were married couple Courtney McInnes and Grant Freeman, who sold House 2 for $3.3 million and will take home $1.35 million.

Bidding began at $1,999,999.96 and rose quickly as The Block regular and IT entrepreneur Danny Wallis competed with Portelli and cafe chain owner Jacob Najjar.

The modern Mediterranean style home, or “Moditerranean”, had been a consistent hit with the show’s judges.

“I’m in so much shock,” Courtney said.

“I’ll be forever indebted to him [Portelli],” Grant added.

Grant said the couple tried to design the home with a long-term owner in mind.

Courtney and Grant, with host Scott Cam, react to the winning bid on their home. Credit: Nine

“Some of the advice we got about the market was that from an investor-wise, it was softening a little bit, that’s because obviously the land tax that’s happening at the moment, so we shifted our focus,” he said.

Their agent, Yvette Tancheff of Ray White, said the campaign attracted strong bidders.

“I thought it might get up to $3 million, I didn’t think it would get over,” she said.

Tancheff said the local market was steady, but prices had dropped about 10 per cent in the past six months.

Newlyweds Kristian and Mimi Belperio won third place for their renovation of House 5, another that won regular praise from the judges.

After a hard-fought auction that rose largely in increments of $25,000, they sold for $2.93 million through Stockdale & Leggo.

They won a $50,000 reduction in their reserve, to $1.9 million, for delivering the best room in the clubhouse, the cinema. They will take home $1.03 million.

Kristian and Mimi watch on nervously during the bidding. Credit: Nine

“It’s quite surreal,” Mimi said.

“I started freaking out at $50,000,” Kristian added.

Best mates Ricky Recard and Haydn Wise sold House 3 – dubbed “the Fun Factory”, for its games room, boat and pink garage door – for $2.7 million through Ray White, making a $750,000 profit.

“Feeling bloody chuffed,” Haydn said. “We already feel like we’ve won The Block. We’ve won so many friends.”

“We were just lucky to have that many buyers in the room”: Ricky and Haydn walked away with a $750,000 windfall.Credit: Nine

Ricky said: “Whether it was the toys that got it done or the house that got it done, I think we were just lucky to have that many buyers in the room.”

Cairns couple Kylie and Brad Baker sold House 4 in a slower-paced auction for $2.6 million, and will take home $650,000. Their agents in conjunction were from McGrath and Alex Scott.

The Bakers had an eventful season, pursuing a distinctive black-themed interior design that garnered mixed reviews from the judges, and leaving before the final week of clubhouse renovations. But they returned to vindication, and said they would even renovate again.

“It has been worth it,” Kylie said. “[The prizemoney] just takes so much pressure off us.”

The Block host Scott Cam was not fazed by Portelli’s declaration that this would be his last year attending the program’s auctions.

“We love Adrian but there’s plenty of people who are keen to buy those houses,” he said.

Cam said this year’s auctions had attracted the most bidders, and some homes had eight to 10 registered bidders.

Contestants Kylie and Brad sold their house for $2.6 million, taking home $650,000.Credit: Nine

He said the lower price point this year than last year had attracted family bidders. The median house price in Cowes is $762,500, on Domain data.

Loading

Cam also noted the tax depreciation schedule, set at about $5 million for each house.

The program’s co-creator Julian Cress highlighted the challenge for contestants on next year’s show.

“Our new crop of contestants that will be joining us in Daylesford soon are going to know coming in that they’re not going to be selling to Adrian Portelli, so they’re going to have to knuckle down and build some beautiful houses for some local families next year,” Cress said.

Cress praised the Harry sisters’ work on the program. “It’s a fairytale ending.”

As for the state’s higher land tax, Cress said he believed property prices on the Bass Coast had come back about 6 per cent to 7 per cent during the program’s season.

“That was scaring the shit out of me to be honest, and then there’s an Airbnb tax coming in on the 1st of January as well, the interest rates haven’t gone down. I think that we all felt a little gloomy in the last month,” he said.

Cress acknowledged the estate agents’ work drawing more bidders than in previous seasons.

“To have an auction that has six, seven, eight, nine starters with paddles who are all registered to bid is extraordinary,” he said.

He agreed the sub-$2 million price point attracted more potential buyers, but noted the bidding soared higher.

“Adrian, quite frankly, wouldn’t have paid $3.3 million if he didn’t have to in the first auction,” Cress said.