Channel Nine / The Block
The Block 2026 houses have landed in Mount Eliza, with five teams transforming multi-million-dollar homes overlooking Port Phillip Bay. But while we watch the properties evolve room by room, there’s an even bigger question looming over this year’s competition: what will happen to these houses when The Block is over?
Following a turbulent property result for The Block’s 2025 Daylesford season, all eyes will eventually turn to the Mount Eliza market – and whether buyers will be prepared to pay millions for the finished homes.
Home Beautiful is following all five The Block 2026 houses throughout the season, including their weekly transformations, virtual tours, property listing, expert valuations and eventual auction results. We’ll also be speaking to local Mornington Peninsula property experts about what buyers at this end of the market really want – and which Block house they think has the best chance come auction day.
We’ll continue updating this article throughout The Block 2026 and beyond.
NEED TO KNOW
- Where are The Block 2026 houses?
- Meet The Block 2026 contestants and their houses
- Who is the Mount Eliza buyer?
- How much are The Block 2026 houses worth?
Where are The Block 2026 houses?
Set at 109 Old Mornington Road in Mount Eliza on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the sprawling 1.35 hectare site was reportedly purchased by Channel Nine for around $11 million. The location hosts five luxury homes for the 2026 season, marking one of the network’s biggest site investments to date. It’s also the first Block ever to have water views.
Meet The Block 2026 contestants and their houses
Five teams are competing on The Block 2026 in Mount Eliza. One of the best ways to see how the Mount Eliza homes are evolving is through their interactive Domain listings. The virtual tours are being updated throughout the season as new rooms are revealed, allowing viewers to virtually walk through the five properties as the Blockheads complete them.
ADAM AND JOLENE, HOUSE ONE
2 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza
Adam and Jolene are cattle station managers from South Australia. Adam is a qualified carpenter, while Jolene has experience in property management and renovation projects.
CHANTEL AND WYATT, HOUSE TWO
3 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza
Chantel and Wyatt are from Queensland, with Chantel bringing building and construction experience to The Block. Wyatt is a former Australian Defence Force rifleman turned professional trainer.
LISA AND ROSCO, HOUSE THREE
4 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza
Western Australians Lisa and Rosco entered the competition with less building experience than many of their fellow Blockheads. Lisa works as a paramedic and registered nurse, while Rosco works FIFO in the oil and gas industry.
COURTNEY AND SEV, HOUSE FOUR
9 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza
Queenslanders Courtney and Sev have significant design and construction experience between them. Courtney works as a commercial construction site manager, while Sev is an interior designer.
RICK AND TAYLA, HOUSE FIVE
10 Mackillop Place, Mount Eliza
Victorian father-and-daughter duo Rick and Tayla are the local team this season, with Rick bringing extensive building experience. Rick is an experienced builder, while Tayla runs her own beauty business and works as a personal trainer.
Who is the Mount Eliza buyer?
Designing a beautiful home is one thing. Designing a home that someone is prepared to spend millions of dollars on is another. It’s a distinction The Block judge Darren Palmer was thinking about before he even stepped inside the five Mount Eliza homes. Ahead of the 2026 season, Palmer conducted his own analysis of 18 months of local property sales alongside Australian Bureau of Statistics Cencus data to better understand the market he would be judging in. That research would later form the basis of a masterclass he delivered to this years’ contestants.
“The masterclass was the research I did prior to starting The Block so I could understand the market properly in order to judge properly,” Darren told Home Beautiful.
His analysis, which Palmer stresses is approximate by nature, found owner occupancy in the area to be 86.9 per cent and identified four key groups shopping within Mount Eliza’s upper end: family upgraders, prestige downsizers, lifestyle sea-changers and inner-east relocators. There was, however, one group that date couldn’t account for.
“What the data didn’t show was the Block viewer cohort, as that cohort hasn’t been in Mount Eliza before – it travels with The Block from location to location,” Palmer says.
Family upgraders make up the largest share, typically professional couples seeking a turnkey four-or-five bedroom home with a pool, prestige kitchen, strong school access and no immediate work required.
Prestige downsizers are “right sizing” rather than simply downsizing, with views playing a major emotional role in their purchase. “Downsizers/right-sizers buy the view from the bedroom every morning,” Palmer says.
Lifestyle sea-changers are drawn to architecture, design quality and a strong sense of identity. “Sea-changers respond to a design story,” he says.
Finally, inner-east relocators are often looking for the prestige and polish of suburbs such as Toorak or Brighton at comparatively better value.
What Mount Eliza buyers actually want
Forget highly individual design. Palmer’s research found Mount Eliza’s strongest-performing homes tend to have broad appeal, with warm whites, pale oak, travertine and other natural finishes favoured over dark or more polarising schemes. “The date doesn’t support anything other than broad market appeal,” he says.
The local agents selling this year’s homes agree. House Three agent Mark Nunn says buyers around the $4 million mark want “understated quality, functionality and a home that feels effortless to live in,” while House Two agent Quentin McEwing says broader appeal ultimately means “more competition and ultimately higher sale price.”
Most importantly, buyers won’t compromise on things they can’t change. “They will forgive a particular colour of styling choice because that can be changed,” Nunn says. “What they don’t want to compromise on are things that are difficult or impossible to change – position, outlook, natural light, land, privacy and floorplan.”
How much are The Block 2026 houses worth?
All five homes have identical $3.6 million to $3.9 million price guides, more than double Mount Eliza’s approximately $1.64 million median house price.
But they’re not identical propositions. House One, Two and Three sit in the elevated ‘uptown’ precinct with the development’s strongest water views, while Houses Four and Five trade some of that outlook for larger outdoor spaces. House Five has the biggest allotment of all at approximately 1435 square metres.
Nunn is already backing House Three’s location, calling it “the best position on The Block,” with “the best view on The Block.”
Can five $4 million homes sell at once?
That’s another potential hurdle. Five prestige homes will hit the market at essentially the same time, but McEwing believes The Block will attract a much broader buyer pool than a conventional campaign.
He also sees a natural split between the properties: “Downtown are probably more oriented towards the family buyer, whereas Uptown the downsizer.”
| House | Contestants | Price guide | Agent’s view |
| House One | Adam and Jolene | $3.6m – $3.9m | TBC |
| House Two | Chantel and Wyatt | $3.6m – $3.9m | Quentin McEwing says the guide represents “brilliant buying,” with early enquiry led by retired downsizers. |
| House Three | Lisa and Rosco | $3.6m – $3.9m | Mark Nunn called the guide “accurate and responsible,” and believes House Three has the best position and view on The Block. |
| House Four | Courtney and Sev | $3.6m – $3.9m | TBC |
| House Five | Rick and Tayla | $3.6m – $3.9m | TBC |
We’ll continue updating this assessment as the homes are completed – and eventually see how the agents’ predictions stack up when the five properties go under the hammer.
In case you missed it…
Week 3: Main bedroom & walk-in wardrobe
Week 5: Living,dining & alfresco terrace
Week 6: Guest suite (bedroom & ensuite)
Week 7: Kitchen, pantry, WC & lift
Week 8: Rumpus & laundry
Week 9: Kids’ bedrooms
Week 10: Outdoor terrace & pool
Week 11: Backyard & garage
Week 12: Front yard & facade
Everything we know about The Block 2026
The Block budget myth: Real cost vs TV magic
The Block 2026 houses: Which Mount Eliza home has the biggest advantage?
Where are they now? We tracked down every single The Block team ever
The Block 2026 contestants revealed: Meet the five renovation teams
A look at The Block 2026 Mt Eliza location
The Block Daylesford homes: Where are they now and what went wrong?
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