Agents are predicting that over the next few weeks more beach-side holiday homes will change hands than the rest of the year put together.

Properties are now being snapped up at prices not seen for a decade.

Life's a beach for Pam and Dave Gerrard who've just snapped up their dream home on the Gold Coast. A decade ago they'd given up hope they'd ever be able to afford a coastal retreat, but no more.

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"We looked around about ten years ago and the prices back then were a lot higher than now you know," Dave said.

They paid tens of thousands of dollars less than the asking price.

"We were very lucky and we wanted it at the right price," Pam said.

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But maybe luck has nothing to do with it, and it's just a matter of making an offer.

According to Tony Coughran, a buyers agent who makes his living by taking real estate agents head on, "it's a buyer's market."

He says that "good, tightly held blue chip properties are getting released on the market and being snapped up."

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Buyers' agent Christopher Koren says more Australians are selling up in our cities and searching for coastal properties and a better lifestyle.

"Interest rates are low, prices are lower than they were for the last five years. People are more desperate to sell for one reason or another and there are opportunities out there, there's no doubt about it," Koren said.

He says more Australians are selling up in our cities and searching for coastal properties and a better lifestyle.

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His advice is "if you're going to buy beach-side real estate, try and buy something that's reasonably unique."