Put out the welcome mat. It’s Christmas holiday time along the Myall Coast and the tourists and visitors are flocking in.

The camping grounds are full and Real Estate agents in Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest have had a great response from holidaymakers looking for rentals over the January period.

“We have 138 holiday rentals and it’s looking very positive for January,” James Murphy said.

It’s also been a much better year for home and unit sales in Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest.

“We’ve had our biggest November ever,” James said.

“The strong interest from Sydney and Newcastle is far outstripping supply,” James told News Of The Area.

First National Real Estate at Hawks Nest has more than 100 properties on its holiday books.

“We’re pretty full over the Christmas New Year Period but we still have some properties available from the 14th to 28th January,” Holiday Manager Kaye Simpson said.

Lisa Hamilton from Ray White in Tea Gardens said, “We’ve had a better year, we’ve had more bookings consistently since the October long weekend.”

LJ Hooker in Tea Gardens is looking to grow its holiday rent roll under new Principal Lisa Dale.

While Boutique Agency Hawks Nest Beach Realty is happy with its 60 holiday properties.

“We give more personal service,” said Kathy Curtis.

“We’ve offered Saturday to Saturday and Monday to Monday for holiday lettings.”

“We found that a lot of people didn’t want to arrive on Christmas Eve and leave on New Year’s Eve, so we’ve given them the option to arrive on Boxing Day and leave after the New Year,” Kathy said.

All agents agree that the Real Estate Market appears to have turned the corner after the GFC in 2009.

By Margie TIERNEY