Courtney and Sev have won The Block 2026 in a stunning auction finale that saw all five houses sell under the hammer, with every team walking away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.
It was the fairytale ending that few saw coming. Brisbane besties’ Courtney and Sev’s House 4 sold for $4.72 million – a whopping $1.27 million above its $3.45 million reserve, after a fierce bidding battle won by a local Melbourne family and long-time Block fans.
Not only did every house sell, every house sold for well above its reserve during Australia’s biggest property downturn in decades.
And unlike some previous Block finales, no billionaire or rich-lister was required to swoop in and save the day. The five homes sold to a mix of local and Melbourne families, owner-occupiers and investors. Courtney and Sev’s house had 17 registered bidders on the day – the most bidders on one house the show had ever had.
It’s a dramatic turnaround from last year’s disastrous auctions in Daylesford , when two homes were passed in and lingered on the market for nine months before eventually selling at a loss, leaving those contestants with no prize money.
Courtney and Sev also became the biggest winners in Block history. They pocketed their profit of $1.27 million plus the $100,000 winners’ prize – and the inaugural $500,000 Plungie prize pool that includes a Chery car, a Bar Crusher boat, a Titanium caravan, a safe with luxury Rolex watches and an additional $50,000 in cash.
Even without that Plungie prize, their profit places them in the top five Block winners of all time.
“We could have never imagined that we would walk away with that kind of money,” Courtney said after the auction.
The result was also vindication for a pair who had been questioned from virtually the beginning.
Courtney and Sev raised eyebrows in week one when they decided to ditch House 3 and its coveted water views in favour of House 4, which had no view but the floor plan they wanted.
They went on to battle budget blowouts and even the threat of disqualification .
“Obviously, we took a lot of risks during the show, and you know everyone thought we were nuts when we picked House 4 over the three uptown houses with the views,” Courtney said.
“We went after House 4 because it had the better floor plan for us,” Sev said.
And after their gamble paid off spectacularly, the pair had a cheeky message for their critics.
“To all of our haters …” Courtney began.
“Eat your words,” Sev cut in, laughing.
The clean sweep of auctions netted the contestants $3.547 million in total profits. A remarkable result against the backdrop of Melbourne’s steepest housing decline in 15 years, rising interest rates , and uncertainty about Victoria’s new auction reserve laws .
But on auction day, contestants and agents said the new laws may actually have helped.
Under the changes, the reserve price must be disclosed seven days before auction. Shelley Craft sensationally revealed the reserves a whole week earlier than expected – and two weeks before the auctions – live on the Today Show.
All five houses had a reserve of $3.45 million .
“I think they were a massive help because people walked into this and were like, ‘Okay, they’re realistic reserves’, and I honestly believe that a lot of the buyers went in there going, ‘These contestants deserve to make money’. These houses are worth so much more,” Courtney said.
“We can’t thank all the buyers enough for all five houses and for what they’ve done for all of us. They’ve literally changed every single one of our lives, and we’re so grateful.”
Adam and Jolene’s House 1 was the first under the hammer and set the tone for what would become an extraordinary afternoon.
After a fast-paced auction with Block veteran auctioneer Damian Cooley, Adam and Jolene’s house sold for $3.905 million, securing them $455,000 profit.
Their profit was $25,000 more than what last year’s winners, Britt and Taz, won The Block with in 2025 .
“How can you not be happy with that coin?” Adam said after the auction.
But it was a last-minute change to the auction order that would prove pivotal, particularly for Chantel and Wyatt in House 2.
Originally, the auctions were scheduled to go under the hammer in numerical order. On the morning of the auctions, however, Nine took advice from House 4’s agent and were moved forward to second and House 2 was pushed back to fourth.
The strategy was simple: put the homes with the strongest buyer interest under the hammer early, then give unsuccessful bidders a chance to compete for the remaining properties.
For Chantel and Wyatt – and Nine – the gamble paid off.
Chantel and Wyatt made Block history for all the wrong reasons, after being the first team in 22 seasons not to win a room reveal.
Chantel said in a post-auction interview that they feared they would leave with nothing.
“In the end I think it was better for us doing it that way,” Chantel said of the auction order swap.
“We didn’t know how it was going to go – any one of us could have not sold, so we were nervous,” Chantel said. “To have a 100 per cent sell rate is insane.”
House 2 ultimately sold for $3.817 million, handing the couple a $367,000 profit.
“Thinking that we’re not going to walk away with any money was really devastating to me,” Chantel said. “And the fact that we’ve walked away with almost $400 grand, I can tell [my son] we can buy a house now, so that’s special.”
Lisa and Rosco’s House 3 produced the hardest-fought auction of the day in an auction that lasted nearly 45 minutes.
“I reckon it would be one of the hardest-fought auctions that I’ve ever been involved with, and I’ve been in real estate now for 24 years, absolutely no question about that,” said Buxton agent Peter Burley, who was working the room and driving up bids.
An extraordinary opening bid of $3,777,000.77 by Danny Wallis kicked off a marathon battle, with bidding at times crawling upwards in increments of just $100.
Lisa and Rosco were thrilled with the result, saying they “couldn’t be happier”.
“When we got over a certain amount, it was just a sense of relief. We’re like, ‘Oh, everything’s great now’,” Rosco said. But the price kept climbing.
The married couple, who’ve just welcomed baby Jude to the family, plan to use their winnings to finish renovations on their house in Western Australia.
Last under the hammer was Rick and Taylor’s House 5. They capped off the clean sweep with another huge result.
Their home sold for $4.355 million, earning the father-and-daughter team an extraordinary $905,000 profit and second place overall.
“I was excited with $10,000 and we ended up getting $905[000],” an emotional Tayla said, wiping away tears.
“It was scary going into that,” Rick said about the auction. “We knew that after three of the auctions had played out that there were still some strong players out there – we were pretty confident that we’d get some good bids.”
An opening $3.5 million bid immediately put them above reserve before 22-year-old auctioneer Ryan King – the youngest ever auctioneer in Block history – presided over another fierce bidding battle.
House 5 was bought by buyer’s agent Andrew Date on behalf of a local family who were overseas at the time and plan to use the home as their main residence.
When asked what this windfall means for the pair, Rick replied: “This is a kick start for Tayla,” Rick said. “It’s huge.”
“[It means] A lot,” added Tayla. “We’re [she and her son Hendrix] going to get a house.”
Much was made of the water views that houses 1, 2 and 3 have – with experts believing this would give those houses a clear advantage – but at the end of the day, buyers were willing to pay more for houses 4 and 5 thanks to their bigger land size, bigger floor plan and more functional layout.
But with a 100 per cent clearance rate and all contestants making hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit, no one is complaining in what was another success story for The Block in 2026.
After the Daylesford disaster, it was about as close to a perfect auction day as The Block could have hoped for.
Jessica Dale Jessica Dale is the Advice and Living editor at Domain. Jessica has 10 years' experience as a property writer and was the deputy editor of Domain magazine in The Age, SMH and Australian Financial Review.
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