The Block’s $3.45m question: what is Mount Eliza actually worth?

Five houses. One number. And yet not a single person is willing to bet on how auction day plays out.

Domain has confirmed all five homes on The Block 2026 will head to auction with an identical $3.45 million reserve, setting up the Mount Eliza finale on Sunday 1 November.

That is roughly half a million dollars more than last year’s Daylesford reserves, which ranged from $2.94 million to $2.99 million – a season in which two of the five homes passed in on auction night.

What $3.45 million buys on the Mornington Peninsula

The listings for 2, 3, 4, 9 and 10 Mackillop Place are now live on Domain, each with a Matterport 3D tour that lets viewers click through floorplans, finishes, pools, gardens and entertaining spaces without leaving the couch.

The promotional shots set the tone. In one, five stools line up at a stone island beneath a row of glowing pendants, framed by pale timber joinery. In another, a curved moss-green sofa angles toward floor-to-ceiling glass, a chandelier overhead and the bay sitting just beyond the balcony.

• View Adam and Jolene's House 1 here.

• View Chantel and Wyatt's House 2 here.

• View Lisa and Rosco's House 3 here.

• View Courtney and Sev's House 4 here.

• View Rick and Tayla's House 5 here.

The 22nd season premiered on Nine and 9Now on 2 August, and marked the format’s first move to the water. The homes overlook Port Phillip Bay across two precincts, Uptown and Downtown, with teams handed completed structural frames to finish into high-end properties.

‘One of the hardest Block auction days to call’

Domain national property editor Alice Stolz isn’t pretending to know how it ends.

“The reserves are finally out, and now the big question is what buyers believe these homes are actually worth. This is an incredibly uncertain market, which makes this one of the hardest Block auction days to call,” Stolz said.

“For anyone playing along at home, now is the time to jump onto Domain, walk through all five properties and decide which one you’d be bidding on.”

READ MORE: The Block 2026 cast reveals what they think of the controversial AI editing

A family affair under CoStar

A tidy corporate loop sits behind those virtual walkthroughs. Domain became part of US-listed CoStar Group in 2025, after Nine sold its controlling stake – and CoStar also owns Matterport, the 3D capture platform powering every tour.

So a Nine reality franchise is driving traffic to its former property portal, which is in turn showcasing technology from its new American parent. Everyone gets a slice of the audience before a single paddle goes up.

Fans can now inspect every bathroom tile and pool edge from their phones. What none of those tours can render is the one room that matters on 1 November: a buyer standing on the street, deciding whether $3.45 million is a floor or a ceiling.