Young couple pays $4.25m for mid-century modern northern beaches home

November 8, 2026 — 3:49pm

A young couple paid $4.25 million for an eye-catching mid-century modern house in Clontarf, in a hard-fought Saturday auction that defied Sydney’s weak property market.

The five-bedroom house at 26 Cutler Road featured timber beams, exposed brick interiors, a fireplace, a cantilevered concrete slab and views over Middle Harbour.

The property was one of 964 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 49 per cent from 571 reported results throughout the week, while 222 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

It was the first test of the market’s reaction to the Reserve Bank’s fifth cash rate hike for the year on Tuesday, to 4.85 per cent. Although the clearance rate remains at weak levels, it was a similar result to last week’s early read of 48 per cent, as many buyers already in the market may have factored the rate rise into their budgets.

Eight parties registered for the Clontarf home. Bidding began at $3.55 million, below the price guide of $3.9 million, and rose rapidly at first.

Four parties competed, offering a mix of $25,000 to $50,000 increments. The stride later shortened to offers of $5000 to $10,000.

The home passed its reserve price of $3,925,000 but selling agent Michael Clarke of Clarke & Humel Property did not have a chance to call the home on the market until the bidding reached $4 million.

There is no legal requirement for a vendor’s reserve to be in line with their property’s price guide.

Two locals dropped out of the race first, leaving it to two out-of-area buyers to compete until the hammer fell at $4.25 million. Clarke remained tight-lipped about the identity of the buyers, saying only the winners are from the lower north shore.

“They loved the fact that it was beautifully mid-century modern and they could work with the existing architecture to create something that was really quite magnificent,” Clarke said, adding the home had views and a level yard but required some work.

“They will create a more modern mid-century masterpiece.”

He said the vendors – two sisters selling their family home – had been realistic about the state of the market.

“I was incredibly nervous seeing what was happening with the market and we ended up achieving what we were hoping for,” he said.

“I think people will look back at this time in the property cycle and they will earmark: that was the best buying they have seen in decades. This is a great example of how good properties that are appropriately priced and marketed are still selling well.”

Elsewhere, in Burraneer, a woman moving to the Sutherland Shire to be near family paid $4.5 million for an updated 1920s house.

The five-bedroom home at 22 Rutherford Avenue kept its sandstone walls and cedar joinery but had been renovated with a stylish kitchen.

The price guide and reserve were set at $4.5 million. There was only one registered bidder, who made an opening bid of $4.4 million, but with no other offers forthcoming, a back-and-forth negotiation ensued between the buyer and the agents.

The buyer then increased her bid to $4.5 million and the home sold under the hammer. The vendors are downsizing after having loved the home for about a decade, Ray White Sutherland Shire -Cronulla selling agent Tiffany Perez said.

“It is a 98-year-old heritage listed gem,” she said. “It is quite an iconic home on the peninsula.”

She said it had been beautifully restored while keeping the home’s character.

She described the market as an “opportunistic time to be buying”.

“We are seeing less volume in terms of the open home attendance but a higher quality. The buyers that are out in the marketplace, they are good buyers and they are ready to transact.”

In Drummoyne, a luxurious new duplex is still available after passing in at auction on Saturday.

The four-bedroom home at 131 Lower St George’s Crescent has a marble kitchen, butler’s pantry and swimming pool and went to auction with a price guide of $5.5 million.

Four bidders registered and three were active, pushing the price to $5.45 million, but with no further bids forthcoming, the home passed in.

The reserve price was $5.8 million.

McGrath Strathfield selling agent Jag Dhillon said there were still potential buyers looking in this market.

“Generally speaking I would say there are buyers there, they’re looking to transact. However, things have corrected themselves,” he said.

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