Comedian Dave Hughes buys The Block Elsternwick winner from Josh and Elyse
The $3.07 million buyer of Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles’s place on The Block Elsternwick was Dave Hughes, the comedian.
Josh, 28, and Elyse, 24, pocketed a "life-changing" $447,000 over its conservative reserve, plus the $100,000 prize.
They met in Byron Bay - Barker’s hometown — 4.5 years ago and settled in Melbourne together shortly afterwards.
Hughes had attended the prior 2016 Block auction, but without securing any purchase at the Port Melbourne apartment complex.
The Elsternwick house won the series when it sold above its conservative $2.62 million reserve and well above the ANZ's $2,267,000 RealAs price predictor estimate too, that was being touted five days out.
The bidding opened at $2.6 million from the show pony buyers' agent Frank Valentic who again headlined what emerged as a very shallow market of buyer interest across the five relocated house offerings.
Buyers' agent Nicole Jacobs represented three of the buyers.
Twitter went into a silly meltdown queuing whether Hughes could afford the acquisition!
The Hughes' investment purchase reveal came after the first auction offering sold to an unidentified client of buyers' agent Greville Pabst.
“I always thought I would actually need little bit more than that,” Pabst admitted.
Hughes said he "was driving past and I was thinking, "gee it is a good spot, it is a good house, it is a good area."
“It’s a good street, it’s going to be a great street forever,” said Hughes, who saw the house a few months ago when filming for his KIIS FM radio show.
"We might move in there eventually but we’ll rent it out for a start," he advised.
The comedian was in attendance when the Port Melbourne as The Block apartments went under the hammer last year.
Despite registering to bid for one of the five apartments, Hughes did not raise his number 23 paddle during the televised finale at Port Melbourne.
Picture taken from Dave's Instagram.
The comedian spoke about his exprience to Matt and Meshel on KISS FM the following Monday morning confessing he had previously purchased a house on a whim before.
A few years ago he walked past an auction walking his dog and came home with a house. He said he would not do it again.
The Melbourne-based comedian was last in the property news when he sold his St Kilda family home, just two weeks into the marketing.
The renovated three bedroom Victorian terrace was being offered with $2 million plus hopes by Hughes and his wife, journalist Holly Ife who secured $2,112,000.
It cost $1.8 million in 2007 and before than $1.27 million in 2002.
Fareham was built 1867 by architect William Allen.
It has been the home of the painter Albert Tucker and his wife Joy Hester. Tucker's painting 'Watcher on a Balcony' shows the unusual iron work. The writer Marcus Clarke also lived there.
The couple had bought another St Kilda home in 2010 for $1.84 million.
Property Observer previously claimed all five of The Elsternwick properties renovated on this year’s series had conservative price guidance.
The indicative sale prices for all five homes were given as between $2.4 million and $2.64 million.
But the total prize pool of the contestants of $1.22 million was well down on last year’s $2.835 million windfall, and this season marked the first since 2011 that a property offering passed in.
It later sold. The prices achieved fell between $2,615,000 and $3,067,000.
Channel Nine has committed to a 14th season again in their preferred Melbourne location, with work expected to begin soon on the former, infamous Gatwick Hotel on down at heel Fitzroy Street, St Kilda.
Hughes recently quit Channel Nine’s The Footy Show to host his own show Hughesy, We Have A Problem on Channel 10 next year.
A fortnight ago, Hughes revealed that he took a wage cut to give his radio co-host, Kate Langbroek, equal pay.
Hughes and Langbroek are moving to the drive slot on the Hit Network in 2018.