What The Block result means for the property market

The champagne flowed freely on The Block finale on Sunday night.

Winners Tess and Luke watched the hammer fall a whopping $630,000 over reserve.

Even last-place finishers Mitch and Mark enjoyed a windfall of $384,000.

While hysteria surrounding the show may account for some of this, the result is still in line with the property market's recent upswing.

CoreLogic's Home Value Index lifted 2.9% over the past three months.

At this rate housing values will hit their historic high-water mark in about six months. With the exception of Perth and Darwin, all capital cities have seen housing values increase. Melbourne's the best situated of these, on track to make a full recovery in January, while Sydney would post a full recovery within the next six months.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless warns that while improving housing values will support household wealth, it might also lock out number of first home buyers.

"A recovery in housing values implies the affordability dividends provided by the recent housing downturn are now a thing of the past. With housing values rising rapidly in some areas, we could see less first home buyer participation in the market as affordability pressures start to dampen activity."

Meanwhile, 2375 homes went to auction across the combined capital cities this week, up from 1555 over the previous week. Sydney was the standout performer with its 2nd busiest auction week of the year, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 81%.

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