The Block: Here's what the units from Season 1 are worth today

Ready to feel old? It's been more than 20 years since the first season of The Block began filming at 67 Roscoe Street, Bondi.

Ready to cry? Well, way back then, if you'd been a little more organised, a little more goal-oriented, perhaps a little bit wealthier, you could have picked up the entire Block for under $2 million.

And that's exactly what Channel Nine did when they paid the modest sum of $1.95 million for the entire apartment block back in June 2002. Then, just one year later, the four newly renovated units went under the hammer, fetching a combined $2.82 million, including $440,000 profit for the four lucky couples.

The show was a huge success for Channel Nine, with an average of 2,000,000 viewers for each episode and a whopping 3,000,000 Aussies tuning in for the grand finale.

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But how much are those apartments worth now? Well, they don't change hands too often, with the owners apparently keen to hold on to their slice of Aussie TV history, but there have been a handful of sales over the years. Here's a look at the most recent sales figures and current price estimates.

Unit 2: $561,000 - September 2005

An early investment in The Block in one of Sydney's most sought-after suburbs sounds like a sure bet, right? Not so fast. Unit 2 buyer and Crazy John's mobile founder, the late John Ilhan, paid a pretty $670,000 for the unit back in 2003, but then he appears to have taken quite a hit, dumping the property just two years later for $560,000. Ouch.

Domain's current estimate on the property is between $1.38 and $1.83 million.

Unit 3: $1.765 million - August 2021

John wasn't alone either. Just a few months earlier, in April of 2005, Unit 3 was sold for just $555,000, despite having purchased it at auction for $655,000 — making a loss of $100,000.

The next owners did do markedly better, though, going on to sell the property for $1.765 million in August of 2021.

Unit 4: $1.765 million - September 2019

A Sydney businessman also must've been feeling a little disappointed when he sold Unit 4 in 2009 for a measly $20,000 profit. Better than a loss but a rather paltry return on $750,000 over six years.

Unit 4 has changed hands twice more since, it's not clear what the previous owners paid at auction in 2011, but when they sold the unit again in 2019, it fetched over $1.4 million.

In today's market, number 4 would likely fetch far more, with Domain giving the property a "high confidence" mid-range estimate of $1.8 million.

Unit 1: $751,000 - August 2003

Last but definitely not least, we have the winning property, Adam and Fiona's fabulous ground-floor flat. Purchased by an "unidentified Sydney woman" for $751,000 way back in 2003, the unit's mysterious owner is apparently fond of the dwelling, as it's yet to return to the market.

A lack of sales data and the winning unit's unique story make an estimate tricky, but the upper guide for Unit 4 is around $2 million.

Season 19 of The Block starts Sunday, 6 August, on Channel 9. Meet this year's contestants here.

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