Concerns that not all the $3.4million properties will sell on The Block 

The Block’s executive producer Julian Cress has revealed he is terrified that the properties renovated on the show this year won’t sell. 

Due to plummeting auction clearance rates in Melbourne, the five properties going up for auction on Saturday are in danger of missing the mark – or failing to find a buyer at all. 

Currently, the hope is that the homes will fetch between $3.2 million and $3.4 million at auction – but the market is unsteady. 

‘Clearance rates are currently running in the sort of 60th percentile in Melbourne. That would suggest that we’re on track to sell three out of five of the houses,’ Cress told news.com.au ahead of the auction. 

‘My nervousness and fear is obviously that I want to sell five out of five, because I want all the contestants to do really well. 

‘So, getting to sell all five, on one day, in this environment is what’s keeping me up at night.’ 

With high price tags and auction clearance rates plummeting in the Victorian city amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are concerns that not all five homes will sell.  

According to News.com.au the auction clearance rates are down four per cent since last year, and only 70 per cent of houses going to auction actually sold in the last week.  

Host Scott Cam also said that he is ‘hoping for the best’ given the current market, but he is concerned about how much money the contestants will take home.   

‘Auction day is one of the most nervous days of my year,’ he added. 

‘We always want them to walk away with a life-changing amount of money, but we just don’t know what will happen.’ 

As a result of the pandemic, this year’s houses will go under the hammer on Saturday, before the results are aired on Sunday night’s episode. 

In previous years the auctions were held live. 

The Block Finale airs Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine.