In the years following the pandemic, a particular kind of optimism took hold in Australia's holiday property market — and Adrian Portelli, the billionaire who paid $15 million for five televised renovation homes on Phillip Island, embodied it completely. Now, with one property reselling for $1.3 million against a $3.3 million purchase price, the market has delivered its verdict: regulatory headwinds, shifting work patterns, and the inflated theatre of reality TV auctions have combined to erase millions in value. The story of The Block's Phillip Island homes is less about one man's losses than