The gloomy weather sinks rental bookings
From the coast of Maine to Martha’s Vineyard, realtors are reporting significant drops in all kinds of vacation rentals, giving last-minute planners a feast of options this summer.
As temperatures dropped to the 40s and a northeaster spread across the region last week, real estate agents grumbled that the harsh winter and gloomy spring are contributing to the decreased bookings, which are down 10 to 20 percent at some destinations.
‘’People have been so cold they haven’t been able to think that summer is actually coming,” said Sherry Purdy, owner of Sandpiper Realty in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard.
Until this month, Sandpiper’s vacation rentals had dropped close to 30 percent on Martha’s Vineyard. Now, the company, which handles about 700 properties, is down about 19 percent.
‘’People are really slow to the draw this year,” Purdy said.
Nantucket, which often receives bookings a year in advance, is also seeing significant drops in the volume of summer rentals. Kate Ranney Sayle, co-principal at Denby Real Estate, said July is especially soft this year.
‘’In these last few weeks, it’s quieter than usual,” Sayle said. ‘’People often don’t plan on their summer vacations until it feels like summer . . . and it definitely has not been feeling like summer.”
Real estate agents said they don’t think the weakened economy is a major factor in the summer rental lull because that usually translates to more people renting and fewer people buying vacation homes.
On Martha’s Vineyard, Purdy urged landlords to resist raising prices because there is a large amount of inventory available and no increase in demand.
