A sparsely populated semi-rural suburb roughly 37 km north-west of the Sydney CBD, straddling The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire on the Old Northern Road between Dural to the south and Glenorie to the north. At the 2021 census Middle Dural had just 1,040 residents living across an area of about 8.4 square kilometres — extremely low density, with only about 372 properties in the whole suburb and 84.5% of homes owner-occupied. Households are predominantly couples with children in the 50-59 age bracket, typical of a quiet acreage locality where 5-acre rural-residential holdings are the norm. Historically part of the Dooral district settled around the convict-built Old Northern Road, it is where George Best established the Half-Way Inn in 1831, and since the 1970s the area has been home to the Banana Cabana Primate Sanctuary, a retirement facility for ex-circus and zoo monkeys.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Hills District |
| Council (LGA) | The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire |
| Postcode | 2158 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | Middle Dural is about 37 km north-west of the Sydney CBD. Public transport to the city is indirect and slow — a limited bus service south… |
| Median house price | ~$3.4M-3.8M on a very thin market (only 12-14 house sales a year, retrieved Sep 2026): realestate.com.au median sold price $3,419,000 based on 12 sales in the past 12 months; OnTheHouse/Cotality median house value $3,377,552 as at 31 December 2025; YIP/CoreLogic median sold price $3,814,000 (mid-2026) |
| Median unit price | $1,562,672 |
| Typical rent | $900/week ; the rental pool is tiny — OnTheHouse recorded no properties listed for rent in the suburb at retrieval time |
| Price growth | Houses rose 39.31% in median value over the 5 years to December 2025… |
Transport
Middle Dural has no railway station, metro stop or ferry — it is a car-dependent rural suburb on the Old Northern Road corridor, roughly mid-way between Dural and Glenorie. Bus access is limited: CDC NSW operates sparse services along the Old Northern Road corridor linking Middle Dural with Dural and Glenorie, from which connections run to Castle Hill metro station, though most households rely on private cars.
Schools
Middle Dural Public School — a NSW government Kindergarten to Year 6 primary school at 1251 Old Northern Road in Middle Dural — is the only school in the suburb (Middle Dural Public School; localitybiz). There are no secondary schools in Middle Dural itself; public high school students are served by Galston High School in the adjoining suburb of Galston — Domain's Galston High School catchment map includes Middle Dural properties such as 12 Mcleod Road — while independent K-12 options such as Pacific Hills Christian School sit in neighbouring Dural.
Shopping & Amenities
Amenities in Middle Dural are minimal — there is no village shopping centre in the suburb; residents use the Dural village shops and services on Old Northern Road to the south or Glenorie's shops to the north. The suburb's notable local institutions are the Banana Cabana Primate Sanctuary, established in the 1970s as a retirement facility for ex-circus and zoo primates on Old Northern Road, and Middle Dural Public School.
Parks & Outdoors
Middle Dural is open rural countryside of acreage lots, paddocks and semi-rural holdings lining the Old Northern Road — the suburb has only 2 parks covering about 1.1% of its 8.4 km², with most of the land in private rural-residential use. Recent acreage sales show the landscape: 5-acre holdings like 1347 Old Northern Road ($3.5M, sold Dec 2025) and 8 Best Road ($2.45M, sold Nov 2025). The Banana Cabana Primate Sanctuary's bushland site is part of the suburb's quiet rural character.
Property Market
The median house price in Middle Dural was around ~$3.4M-3.8M on a very thin market (only 12-14 house sales a year, retrieved Sep 2026): realestate.com.au median sold price $3,419,000 based on 12 sales in the past 12 months; OnTheHouse/Cotality median house value $3,377,552 as at 31 December 2025; YIP/CoreLogic median sold price $3,814,000 (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Every tracker cautions on sample size: Middle Dural has only ~372 properties and 12-14 house sales per year, so medians move sharply with each acreage sale — recent 5-acre transactions include 1347 Old Northern Road at $3.5M (Dec 2025) and 8 Best Road at $2.45M (Nov 2025), plus a $1.611M vacant land sale. House medians cluster around $3.4-3.8M ; individual prices depend almost entirely on lot size, improvements and horse facilities. 84.5% of homes were owner-occupied at the 2021 census.
New Developments
Development is minimal: Middle Dural is zoned rural and rural-residential under the planning frameworks of both LGAs it straddles, with The Hills Shire's rural strategy protecting large-acreage lots and limiting subdivision to preserve 'rural lifestyle living' rare within Greater Sydney. Change is limited to the occasional subdivision of larger holdings, rural buildings and conservation of the Banana Cabana sanctuary site — no estate or medium-density development is proposed.
Jobs & Local Economy
Local employment within Middle Dural is negligible — the suburb's few workplaces are Middle Dural Public School and the Banana Cabana Primate Sanctuary. Most residents are managers or professionals who commute out of the suburb to Hills District employment hubs such as Norwest Business Park, or to the Castle Hill/Rouse Hill retail precincts and Sydney CBD via the Old Northern Road corridor.
Nearby Suburbs
Kenthurst, Glenorie, Arcadia, Dural, Galston
Sources & method
Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.
Sources cited in this guide:
Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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