Block win 'unbelievable'

Caleb and Alice Pearson.
Caleb and Alice Pearson.
Caleb and Alice Pearson last night won the hit TV series The Block, taking home $261,000 in prizemoney.

The married couple beat three other teams by selling the property they renovated for the biggest profit.

They sold their house, dubbed "House 1", for $1,126,000, $181,000 above the reserve price.

The Pearsons also scooped an additional $80,000 in prizemoney.

Caleb Pearson said the win still hadn't sunk in. "It's crazy, it really is unbelievable. After the first two auctions - we really did think all the houses were on an equal level - and we weren't expecting much.

"We were just lucky that there were two bidders who went for it."

The couple said they didn't have any definite plans for the money just yet, except that a large chunk would be used to pay off their mortgage.

Alice Pearson said: "It will be amazing to not have that financial pressure [any more] and be able to do things and [realise] some dreams that we've put on hold for a while ... It's going to be amazing."

They said they were "a bit gutted for the other contestants".

All the contestants will keep the difference between what the house they renovated sold for and what the property's reserve price was set at.

Block NZ spokeswoman Megan Stuart said real estate agents had indicated there was plenty of interest from serious buyers. However, she declined to say how many had registered for the auction.

The four teams spent 10 weeks and many hard, long hours to get their once-rundown homes on the corner of Lake and Eversleigh Rds, Takapuna, into pristine condition and ready for auction.

The show's second season racked up an average of 452,200 viewers an episode, and the contestants attracted a huge following.

This year's teams were made up of two married couples - the Pearsons from Auckland, Loz and Tom Heaphy from Nelson - young Auckland couple Alisa Keall-Grant and Koan Vette, and brothers Pete, 26, and Andy Walker, 23, from Rangitikei.

What they sold for

House 1 (Caleb and Alice):

$945,000 reserve, sold for $1,126,000 (profit $181,000)

House 2 (Alisa and Koan):

$948,000 reserve, sold for $1,014,000 (profit $66,000)

House 3 (Pete and Andy):

$925,000 reserve, sold for $952,500 (profit $27,500)

House 4 (Loz and Tom):

$922,000 reserve, sold for $947,000 (profit $25,000)

- Brendan Manning of APNZ

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