The buyer behind the winning Block Glasshouse auction

The buyer who snapped up Simon and Shannon's apartment on The Block Glasshouse is an investor who missed out on apartments in The Block Fans v Faves.

Buyer's agent Frank Valentic of Advantage Property Consulting told Property Observer the investor was very keen on Simon and Shannon's apartment, and had previously bid on three of the apartments on offer in the show's last season.

After being priced out of the Albert Park apartments, the investor returned for The Block Glasshouse. According to Valentic, the buyer intends to rent out the apartment after settlement.

"Most of the agents were pitching furnished rentals at $1,500 to $1,750 per week," says Valentic, who notes apartments from The Block Fans v Faves were asking for around $2,100 in rent per week.

If rented out at $1,500 per week, the buyer of Simon and Shannon's apartment will be earning a 4.1% yield on their purchase. Should they find a tenant willing to pay $1,750 per week, the apartment will rent with a 4.7% yield.

According to SQM research, the implied gross rental yield for units in Prahran sits just north of 5.5%.

All three of the buyers Valentic represented at the weekend's televised auctions were investors. The other two did not secure apartments.

Valentic notes that while he predicted Darren and Dee's apartment and Michael and Carlene's would have the lowest selling prices, the $1.71 million price for Maxine and Karstan's apartment was a surprise.

"I didn't expect the third result," he says, explaining that it was "probably the biggest shock" of the auction.

The buyer's agent took around 25 buyers through the five apartments, with his clients rating Simon and Shannon's the best, followed by Maxine and Karstan's, and then Chris and Jenna's apartment.