"Tilligerry was once predominantly a stronghold for retirees, but, over the last 10 -15 years Williamtown, Tomago, Raymond Terrace and Heatherbrae have attracted more businesses, bringing employment a lot closer to our peninsula. We now see more mix in ages in the local area; plenty of retirees, but also younger families, begins Rodney Keers Property Consultant/Licensee of Portside Real Estate.

"Historically, the rental market is always a bit slow through the winter months -people tend to hibernate, and this year has been similar with rents remaining reasonably stagnant with an available supply and not as much demand during the cooler months.

"There are though signs of improvement in the last few weeks and we expect this to gather momentum as the weather warms."

Regan Blanch, Property Manager of Real Estate Friend agrees,

"The rental market in Port Stephens is seasonal, so winter is always our slow time, as the end of the year approaches we see so many families moving to the area and wanting to be settled by the new year. With the RAAF changeover we also see lots of RAAF families looking for rental properties in the area."

Heath Jones, Managing Director of Nelson Bay Real Estate says while the holiday rental market in particualr has transformed in recent years, strong rental yields continue.

"The holiday rental market has changed a lot over the last 10 years, with more managed resorts and holiday management specialists taking over from traditional real estate agents, as well as the impact of Airbnb.

"Our average time vacant between permanent tenancies is about 10 days at present. Interestingly, we found homes for more tenants in July this year than we did in summer last year.