It just got (slightly) easier to vacation like the 1%. Hamptons summer rental prices are dropping.
- Hampton homeowners are cutting the prices of seasonal rentals in the ritzy vacation towns.
- Supply has outpaced demand, with more than double the typical number of homes on the market.
It's always a good time to be a Hamptons homeowner — but it's a less-good time this summer if you're hoping to make a buck.
After wealthy New Yorkers fled to the seaside haven on Long Island during the pandemic, the boom has ended.
Homeowners are cutting the prices of seasonal rentals by up to 20% in order to fill vacancies, CNBC reported.
There are now around 5,700 available homes on the seasonal rental market — double the number of homes available during typical summers prior to the onset of Covid-19, per CNBC.
One Hamptons broker told CNBC that the area was "chocked with supply," while another told the outlet that there is "too much inventory at every level."
While CNBC cited price reductions spanning between 10% and 20%, it's possible that "greater discounts will show up," one agent told CNBC.
That doesn't mean the summer spots come cheap: A "bargain" three bedroom house in the Hamptons rents for $60,000 and $100,000 per summer, and ocean-front houses can fetch as much as $1 million per month, CNBC reported.
An excess of Hamptons summer rentals is starting to become a trend. Last year, a similar glut of rental properties cropped up without the requisite demand to match, leading homeowners to slash rental prices by up to 30%.
Part of the decreased demand can be attributed to economic uncertainty facing New York's tech and finance industries, as well as the falling stock market, per CNBC.
The waves of tech layoffs continue to unfold and other industries, including finance, are seeing similar cuts.
"The Hamptons is tied to Wall Street with an umbilical cord," one agent told the CNBC. "When Wall Street is doing well, we do well. When they pull back, we pull back."
There's also the fact that homeowners want to make some money. After properties were getting snatched up across the Hamptons at sky-high prices during the pandemic, buyers are hoping to recoup some of their costs with rental income.
There is, however, one part of the Hamptons rental market that is thriving: The most luxurious oceanfront properties are still managing to find willing renters, with one broker telling CNBC they had managed to secure a $2 million monthly price for one home this summer.
Some of those ultra-rich renters taking ocean dips while the rest of us sweat in the city may be your boss.
"I guarantee you that many of these CEOs who are calling people back to the office in New York City are going away to the Hamptons for the summer," Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, recently said.