The high-stakes bidding wars that once thrilled The Block fans fuelled this season’s finale flop by driving up price expectations far beyond market value, according to a property insider.

Aus proptech CEO Aaron Scott said billionaire Adrian Portelli had inflated the value of the homes featured on past series, causing this year’s contestants to feel undervalued for their time.

Two of the five houses featured in the latest season failed to sell at auction, prompting claims the reserve prices were set too high, at more than $2m above the Daylesford median house price.

Portelli’s sky-high bids in past seasons fuelled unrealistic price expectations, Mr Scott said.

But Mr Scott, co-founder of real estate agent comparison service bRight Agent, said the reserves reflected market value for high-end homes in the Victorian town.

“If The Block prices are out of touch as some claim, then perhaps it’s because billionaires and millionaires have driven up the price expectations of both contestants and viewers,” Mr Scott said.

Portelli first bid on The Block in 2022, losing a bidding war against Danny Wallis for Omar and Oz’s House 5, which netted the contestants a cool $1,586,666.66 above their reserve.

Tensions ran high at the auction finale.

It set a record for the highest amount of profit ever made in a Block auction, marking a turnaround from the previous five years when the average profit per house on auction day was less than $500,000.

At that time, no The Block property had passed in at auction since 2011.

The reserve prices for that season were all set at $4.08m, and all but House 5 sold for close to that price, either at auction or in the weeks that followed, indicating the reserves were fairly well priced, Mr Scott said.

“Reserves and auction prices really started to diverge on Season 19 in 2023, with Portelli paying $5m for Steph Gian’s house, and in doing so also raising the auction bid by $1m

over the previous auction bid of $4m.

“To outdo himself, Portelli then went on to buy Eliza and Liberty’s house, raising Danny Wallis’ bid of $3.09m by over $1m to $4.1m, then bizarrely raising himself to $4.2m then raising again to $4.3m.”

This house, by The Block contestants Han and Can, has hit the market after passing in at auction.

Portelli’s theatrics peaked in Season 20 in 2024 when he bought all five properties, paying an average of over $3m per house, despite all the reserves set at less than $2m.

“No wonder The Block winnings and contestant expectations have been inflated of late — billionaires have been inflating them,” Mr Scott said.

“It’s not that the reserve or market pricing is out of touch, it’s that the billionaire and millionaire bidding got way out of hand.

“It was great entertainment, but their conduct certainly doesn’t reflect the everyday-Aussie experience.”

The Block contestants Emma and Ben. Theirs was one of the two houses passed in this year.

Mr Scott expected to see more consistent prices and a reflection of the true market value of future Block homes.

“In the absence of billionaire bidders who are upping the auction bid by $1million at a time, of course you’re going to see more realistic prices.”

“I think that each of The Block houses will sell, and I think they’ll eventually sell for close to the reserve price.”