A North Curl Curl beach house — won by locals in a national raffle this year — has sold before auction for an eye-watering $3.25 million.

The multimillion-dollar house at 18 Austin Ave was bought by the RSL Art Union in 2017 for $3.7 million, renovated for months and offered as a major prize in the charity’s fundraiser.

It was valued at $3.6 million in October and sold on Saturday for $3.25 million.

James Eyden, of Clarke & Humel, said the winners were an older couple from Forestville who were stunned to win the first prize and decided to sell the house and use the proceeds to help those around them.

“They are aware of the difficulties the returned soldiers face and were keen to support the invaluable work of the RSL Art Union,” he said.

“They never thought for a moment that they would actually win this stunning home,” he said.

All 3,450,000 tickets in the draw were sold, at $5 each, netting more than $17 million for the charity.

The five-bedroom house with pool is the second on the northern beaches to be chosen as a major prize for the charity.

The first Sydney beach house offered by the charity, at 23 Carrington Pde, Freshwater attracted a record number of buyers and tickets sold out early.

Seven of the top 10 ticket-buying suburbs were on the northern beaches, with North Curl Curl heading the list.

The quick sell out of tickets for the Freshwater house prompted the charity to find a second northern beaches property to offer.

SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST REALESTATE NEWSLETTER

A spokesman from RSL Lotteries many of the ticket buyers in the North Curl Curl draw were from the northern beaches.

“The Art Union was very happy with the northern beaches outcomes, both Freshwater and North Curl Curl draws worked well with a lot of northern beaches hopefuls buying tickets,” the spokesman said.

The prize included rates and water paid for the first 12 months, transfer fees paid, $179,000 worth of furniture and electrical appliances and a $2000 travel voucher.

On Saturday, the furniture from the home will be auctioned.