Generous winners share spoils

Corban and Alex Walls' Pt Chev home sold for $1.55m.

Nervous wait for Block rivals and their fans as the show’s four Pt Chev houses go under the hammer

Alex and Corban Walls were runaway winners of the reality home-building show The Block last night, making $307,000 profit.

The couple's Pt Chevalier home set an early cracking pace in a live auction on TV3, selling for $1,552,000. This was $227,000 above the reserve, which went with the $80,000 they pocketed for coming first.

Immediately after they won, the Walls surprised the other contestants with their generosity, giving Quinn and Ben Alexandre $30,000 from their winnings, saying they deserved more than $10,000 profit. "Your attitudes deserve so much more."

Maree Wright and James Steele's property at 26 Newell St went for $1,472,000 - leaving them with $147,000 in their hand.

"That's all I asked for is that someone fell in love with that place," Maree said. "The money is a bonus."

The Alexandres' house - the first couple to reveal a pregnancy while on The Block - went for a disappointing $1,335,000, leaving them only $10,000. They put on a brave face: "It's still a lot of money," said Quinn.

The final house to be auctioned, at 28a Newell St, won Jo and Damo $61,000, after it sold for $1,386,000.

They also took home a Honda CRV Sport as the audience favourites.

Early in the evening the order of the auctions, judged by Maree and James who won the final week of challenges, was revealed.

They nominated Alex and Corban to go first. Maree and James were second, Quinn and Ben third and finally Jo and Damo.

Before the auctions, contestants' nerves were frayed. "My hands keep getting sweaty," said Quinn.

Alex was also feeling the pressure. "I have no idea what to expect and hope someone falls in love with the house."

Corban expressed his confidence: "I know we have created the best house ... - we just hope that the right buyers come to the auction."

The strength of house two, said Maree and James, was in its layout.

"It has nice open-plan living and smart technology which are definitely key features. We think, why wouldn't you buy the largest house out of the four when you can have any of them," Maree said.

James was trying not to get his hopes up: "Anything can happen at an auction so we will just have to wait and see."

Night after night thousands of fans have sat glued to their chairs, following the lives of four couples as they battled exhaustion in the bid to build the best home on The Block.

Everyone had their favourite couple but it was Jo and Damo Neal who won the Peoples' Choice Award.

The Block was in its third season in New Zealand.

Though consolidated ratings for all of season three are not yet available, current figures show the series was not as popular as the first two, with an average of 345,700 viewers over 47 episodes.

Ratings peaked last year, when an average of 486,700 viewers tuned in.