Queensland best friends Courtney Kain and Sevilay Keser have won the 2026 season of reality renovation TV show The Block after their house soared $1.27 million above its reserve at auction.
asserted
house → win → auction
The winning home at 9 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza sold for $4.72 million to a couple buying a weekender, on a day when all five houses sold, in defiance of Melbourne’s weak property market.
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houses → win → market
The besties will also pocket the $100,000 winner’s cheque, as well as a new prize called “Scotty’s Prize Pool” featuring a collection of cash, vehicles, luxury items, and home upgrades valued collectively at about $500,000.
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besties → pocket → 500,000
The Block airs on Nine, owner of this masthead.
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Block → air → masthead
In stark contrast to last year’s series in Daylesford, where the top premium was $420,000 and two homes failed to sell, all Mount Eliza homes sold well above their $3.45 million reserves.
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homes → fail → reserves
Even the fifth-placed couple made $367,000.
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couple → place → 367,000
Sev, a 37-year-old old commercial interior designer and Courtney, 34, a construction site manager, came onto the series with renovation experience, but often had their decisions questioned by judges, such as their big spending and their choice of a house without a knockout ocean view.
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decisions → come → view
“We took a lot of risks during the show, and everyone thought we were nuts when we picked House 4 over the uptown and the views,” said Courtney after the auction, with Sev adding: “Eat your words.”
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Sev → take → words
“We could never imagine we’d win that sort of money … and the prize.
uncertain
we → imagine → money
Now we have to negotiate who gets the boat.
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who → have → boat
It might be our first fight,” Sev said, laughing.
uncertain
Sev → say → ?
Their home was bought by couple Kevin and Rochelle, who gave only their first names, and had initially wanted to buy a weekender in Phillip Island.
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who → buy → Island
But with wife Rochelle being a “big fan of the Block”, they decided to take a look in Mount Eliza instead.
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they → decide → Eliza
“We looked at a couple of other [Block houses] … but this one had everything – it was an easy decision,” Kevin said.
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Kevin → look → everything
For Rochelle, it was “the location, the two girls who had so much experience, the layout – it was perfect”.
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it → have → experience
The properties were part of 574 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week.
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properties → schedule → Melbourne
By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 56 per cent from 380 reported results throughout the week, while 73 auctions were withdrawn.
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auctions → record → week
Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
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auctions → withdraw → rate
Melbourne house prices have been plunging this year, down 6.7 per cent since their December peak.
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prices → plunge → peak
This season was the first to air under Victoria’s new laws stipulating that all properties for sale by auction or fixed-date sale must have the vendor’s reserve price published seven days in advance.
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price → stipulate → advance
The new laws are aimed at tackling property underquoting and follow this masthead’s Bidding Blind investigation, which uncovered widespread deception facing those trying to navigate the auction market.
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which → aim → market
Victoria’s father and daughter team Rick, 64, and 32-year-old Tayla Peroomal, whose auction was last, came in second place after their house at 10 Mackillop Place sold for $4,355,000 in a rapid-fire auction which saw bids shoot up from $3.5 million to $4 million within seconds.
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bids → come → seconds
Presided over by The Block’s youngest-ever auctioneer, the entertaining 22-year-old Ryan King from Ash Marton Realty, the auction wrapped up swiftly.
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auction → preside → Realty
“Scotty Cam called [King] 12 years old, and I said excuse me, shut your mouth,” said Tayla, adding: “I was excited to get $10,000, but we ended up getting $905,000.”
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ended → call → 905,000
She plans to use the money to buy a home and travel.
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She → plan → home
In contrast, House 3 couple Lisa and Rosco Wilson, who welcomed their second son only a week ago, came third following a glacial auction.
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who → welcome → auction
Buxton (Ballarat) auctioneer Mark Nunn worked exceptionally hard to extract the $4 million sale price for 4 Mackillop Place, which saw Block regular and IT entrepreneur Danny Wallis – who opened a trademark odd-number bid of $3,777,000.77 – compete with others in random price increments for over 45 minutes.
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who → work → minutes
“I know our auction took 45 minutes – it was a long one – but you know what, there was money in the crowd.
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you → know → crowd
I wasn’t going to shut it off … just because it was going an extra 10 minutes, 20 minutes longer than it should have,” Nunn said after the auction.
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Nunn → go → auction
“An auction goes as long as it needs to … and I looked Rosco and Lisa in the eye and said, I will get every dollar I can out of the buyers, and I had to live up to that promise.”
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I → go → promise
Lisa praised his persistence.
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Lisa → praise → persistence
“He held his tone like you wouldn’t believe – he needs a raise.
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he → hold → raise
I just felt tired for him,” she said.
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she → feel → him
Rosco added: “The amount of work he did to get 70 cents and then it kept growing and growing – what do they say?
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they → add → what
Slow and steady wins the race.”
After the longest Block auction in history, the Wilsons pocketed $550,000 and will now use it to finish their house, which is half built.
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which → win → house
“We’ve got no roof on it – we’ve put a bit of a hold on it,” Rosco said.
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Rosco → get → it
Despite kicking off the auctions, South Australian cattle station managers Jolene and Adam Wagner came fourth, pocketing a still-hefty profit of $455,000.
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managers → kick → 455,000
Their house at 2 Mackillop Place set a strong tone for the day, opening with a $3.5 million bid and quickly jumping to $3.7 million, before auctioneer Damien Cooley called it at $3,905,000.
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Cooley → set → 3,905,000
“To come out with that … that’s a great outcome.
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that → come → that
Ridiculous, 450 grand?” said Adam following the auction.
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Adam → say → auction
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
