On Cape Cod, why are so many vacation rentals empty?

Has the Earth fallen off its rotation? Apparently. With a surprising upturn in recent years, the topic of Cape vacation rentals this summer is nothing new. If you haven’t booked a year in advance, don’t expect a place with window screens. Rather, it’s a blank narrative.

“It’s a cricket,” said Sarah Buckwalter. professional organizer He’s co-owner of an inherited 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home on Tidal Ponds in North Falmouth, within walking distance of Old Silver Beach, and still has a week left this month.

“I have rosé wine in my fridge,” said Jessica Halem, who bought Wellfleet with her partner. fixer upper During the pandemic, I was recently on Twitter looking for renters.

“I don’t understand why so few rentals are booked,” said Tara Greco, a Waterfront heiress. cottage in Katomet with her brother. It’s a mile away from the Shining Sea bike path, she adds, puzzled. She said, “You can go clam digging in the harbor.”

The Cape Cod Islands Association of Realtors is reporting occupancy this season is 20 percent lower than last season, leaving everyone wondering what’s going on.

Has the dizzying price rise of the past few years gotten too dizzying? After all, the average daily rate has gone from $525 last summer to $619 this year, according to real estate groups, which is roughly what it used to cost to spend a full week on the Cape.

Sharks, traffic jams, and Airbnb’s overbearing departure instructions scared everyone away? Strip your bed, wash your towels, empty your fridge, take your recyclables far away, and leave the house by 10am. Otherwise.

Did everyone who bought a Cape vacation home during the pandemic collectively decide to spend their vacation somewhere more attractive, flooding the market with luxury rental properties?

Now that the chef’s kitchen and hot tub have fallen into disuse, one thing is clear. The reason for the vacancies is considered to be the decrease in demand. Or an increase in supply. or both.

Ryan Castle, CEO of the Real Estate Association, is largely in the Demand category camp.

He believes there are three main reasons. pull back From the ‘revenge travel’ trend, where people’s spending to make up for travel lost in the pandemic has skyrocketed. The current dollar is stronger than it was pre-pandemic, making Italy more attractive than the Sagamore Bridge. And a product that ended up being way too expensive.

“Owners have pushed prices up, so bookings are down,” says Castle.

And blasphemy, so to speak, perhaps $45 lobster rolls, understaffed restaurants, and toxic algae infestations that regularly make some freshwater ponds dangerous to humans and dogs are what make Cape idyllic. I’m starting to cut into the image.

“A week on Cape Cod may not be as glamorous or comfortable as it used to be,” says Annie Bratz, former president of Real Estate Group and sales manager at Kinlin Glover Compass. says.

But Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Niegiwicki said hotel pre-bookings are now at similar levels to last summer, blaming rental vacancy rates on rising inventory. rice field.

“Some people who bought a second home during the pandemic probably aren’t using it as often as they thought,” he said. Instead, we offer rentals.

More than 16,000 short-term rentals on the Cape were registered with the state in April this year, according to Christy Senatori, executive director of the Cape Cod Commission, which is responsible for regional land-use planning and economic development. That’s up from more than 12,100 in the month. and regulators.

Some of that growth may be due to more owners simply following the requirement to register their properties, or renting on trackable sites like Airbnb rather than word of mouth, she said. .

However, CEO Blake Decker Pretty picky propertyOne midsize management firm said it had so many properties on the market this year that it added an unprecedented 30 percent to its inventory, eventually forcing it to stop accepting new properties.

“We have to have cleaners, property inspectors and linens,” he said, pointing to labor shortages. “We didn’t want to expand too much, especially given the uncertainty of whether we’ll generate last-minute revenue,” he added.

Whatever lies behind the vacancies, Joanne Talmadge, co-owner of We Need A Vacation, has some advice for anxious owners.

“If you don’t get the bookings you expected, don’t wait too long to lower your rates,” she wrote in a blog post. “Waiting until the last minute only reduces the odds of finding a borrower, and only increases the need to offer bigger discounts.”

And for those who, like us, are not rental property owners and dream of a week of summer, the most pressing question is not why there are vacancies, but rather ‘this does that mean you get a deal?”

The short answer is probably. Property managers say some owners, especially those that have just entered the market or are far from the beach, are lowering prices, sometimes by as much as 25%.

Some have also shortened the minimum stay from Saturday to Saturday to three or four days, inherited from God.

But perhaps in a game of chicken, some owners are sticking with their prices, so that prospective renters load their trunks with suitcases, fire up the rental app on their phones, and circle Route 6. This leads to anxiety that you are looking for the (last) tail. fine transaction.

Meanwhile, one person who hasn’t wept for rent-free second home owners is Alisa Magnotta, CEO of Hyannis-based Housing Assistance Corporation. This is a non-profit organization that helps find affordable housing for its customers. Many of our customers were evacuated by buyers off the Cape during the pandemic.

When the topic of vacancies came up, she blurted out, “Good,” but quickly added, “I’m kidding.”