Auctioneer Tom Panos (left) said the fate of many of the auctions was sealed before the cameras started rolling.
A silent moment before The Block’s dramatic auction night in 2025 may have sealed the fate of this season’s struggling contestants — long before a single hammer fell.
One of the auctioneers who placed bids on The Block auctions last week has revealed that a major off-screen event had indicated the sales would be a bust long before they started.
This year’s results were markedly different from previous seasons, as two of the five entrants failed to sell at auction.
And even the winners, WA agents Brit and Taz, walked away with a win smaller than the last-placed competitors of the 2024 season.
Auctioneer Tom Panos, who placed bids on the home of second-place contestants Robby and Matt, said registered bidders at the auctions had expressed budgets of $2.7 million to $2.8 million prior to bidding.
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Panos organized the auction for Robby and Mat, who sold for about $100,000 over reserve.
Had and Can failed to attract a single bidder.
These were shared in conversations leading up to the actual auctions and agents close to the auctions knew well in advance that most auction results would be disappointing.
“Without a doubt, the properties were above market value,” Panos said.
“Ask estate agents in Daylesford what the correct values of these properties were and they would say mid $2 million to high $2 million.
“If you think about it, the awards that some of the show’s participants received were quite good for the region, but unfortunately not at the level that the participants expected.”
Mr. Panos said he knew well in advance that it would be a challenge to get bidders to bid above the high reserve prices.
“I was worried,” he said. “We had a few registered bidders, but they were all talking about $2.7 million.
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Brit and Taz were the winners of The Block this year.
“I was determined to sell the property at auction because it is a huge challenge to get a property that (enters at auction) onto The Block and then sells it. They stay on the market for months.”
Mr. Panos explained that the participants who did not sell at auction faced an uphill battle because the brokerage agreements on The Block were different from normal real estate sales.
The auctioneer claimed that these agreements became null and void when the properties ended up at auction, leaving the fate of the participants tasked with selling them uncertain.
“I don’t know what will happen to them, but I know it will be difficult.
“The data doesn’t look good for properties that aren’t selling on The Block. They’re not getting a good price.”
There was a nervous energy ahead of the auctions because of feedback from bidders, Mr. Panos said.
Mr Panos claimed that winning contestants Brit and Taz had benefited from attracting the only registered bidder willing to spend money on this season’s auctions.
“There are two types of buyers on The Block,” he said. “There are celebrity buyers who are there for the marketing opportunities, and then there are normal buyers who are just looking at the market.
“Without those famous buyers like Adrian Portelli it was always going to be difficult to get those normal buyers to pay top dollar in Daylesford, which is a slow market.
Tom Panos has appeared on many seasons of the show, including this year and last year.
“Most of Victoria is a fairly weak market at the moment. The number of days properties are on the market remains quite long. It’s not a market where investors would normally spend on high-end renovations.”
Mr Panos noted that some participants had made arrangements prior to the auction to try to promote their sales, but not all of these were shown.
“My participants told me that one of the bidders had slept in the property before the auction to get a feel for it. They would have been intimate with the property.”
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