The Block auctions are usually a chance to celebrate, with the hopes that the contestants win life-changing money.
This year, however, there were tears and outrage because of the high reserve prices.
The five homes in Daylesford initially had price guides between $3 million and $3 million, and on the day, the $2.99 million reserve was confirmed for the houses. For Sonny and Alicia, however, it was $2.94 million, after winning a $50,000 reserve reduction for their front yard.
With only three homes selling, contestants walked away with less profit than in previous years, and fans blamed the reserve for the disappointing results.
Taking to Instagram on October 27, judge Darren Palmer agreed that it wasn’t the best outcome.
“For sure, we’ve had more upbeat endings, but @theblock 2025 really was a good one,” he wrote, alongside a reel filming the show.
“Daylesford was a gorgeous location, the homes created are great, and if there’s one thing I can say with certainty from my perspective, it’s that we had a lot of fun creating this season for you.”
With all of this in mind, who set this year’s reserve?
Who sets the reserve on The Block?
After all of the backlash, a Channel Nine spokesperson has explained how the conclusion was made.
“The reserve prices are determined through a comprehensive valuation process including independent industry experts whose assessments are based on current market conditions, and the intrinsic quality of the properties themselves,” they explained exclusively to New Idea.
“Each selling agent is also required to provide, by law, an indicative selling price contained in a Statement of Information during the campaign, which also includes details of comparable sales and the median price. All indicative selling prices provided by the selling agents was $3 – $3.3m.”
New Idea was invited to the auction with other media outlets and was given the opportunity to speak with the contestants and the show’s co-creator and executive producer, Julian Cress.
“As you would have clearly seen from today, we weren’t even willing to accept the reserve price,” he told the media on the day.
“We were putting in vendor bids above that because we want to protect our friends, these contestants, and make sure that they want some money.
“I think they were high. We all felt that when we saw them.”
When asked if he had a say about what it should have been, he said he didn’t.
“I wasn’t even consulted about what I thought they should be,” he explained. “So, these decisions are made at a much higher level at Nine.”
Fans were heartbroken about this year’s results.
“The reserves were way too high! Was never going to end well for all of them,” one fan vented on social media.
Another agreed and said the show needed to “go back to reality and reserves need to be adjusted to suit the market”.
After their win, Britt and Taz told the media that they also thought the reserve should have been lower and hoped the network kept it in mind for future seasons.
“Hopefully, they listen,” Britt said.
“I mean, look, I believe a lot of our agents did try to speak to Channel Nine about trying to get it lower. Unfortunately, they didn’t listen, and that’s unfortunately showing today.”
Other fans also slammed the reserve as unrealistic, given the homes were valued four times above Daylesford’s median house price.
Foreman Dan also blasted the high benchmark on his Instagram account.
When asked who set it by a fan, he commented with: “Someone hopefully who won’t be doing it again.”
