Lis Bass, a Philadelphia resident and retired educator, had some sticker shock when considering a shore rental this year.
Shore vacations have been part of her life since childhood. Later this summer, she’ll have her two children and their spouses, three grandchildren and an extended, rotating roster of friends at the beachfront house she lined up.
Since she’s retired, they’ll be able to stay two weeks instead of one.
“If I told people what I’m spending, they would think I’m crazy,” she said.
Weekly rents can range from about $1,000 for a one-bedroom condo to around $15,000 to $20,000 for a beachfront property with all the amenities, depending on the week. Hotel rooms run hundreds of dollars a night, usually coming with a two- or three-night minimum in season.
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One house on the beach near 25th Street in Ocean City lists for $30,000 a week, with six bedrooms and a capacity of 14 people. More often, beachfront or near-the-beach options are closer to half that, at about $15,000 a week in Ocean City.
Bass’ husband has pointed out more than once that they could travel to France for less money.
That might mean a more adventurous trip, and potentially a more anxious one.
Bass instead wants comfort, the familiar and sharing memories of her childhood with a new generation. She looks forward to playing with her young grandchildren and grilled dinners with friends after a day on the beach.
“We’re OK. We have the money,” she said. The cost is a factor, but worth it, in her estimation. Bass taught English at Camden County College for more than 25 years.
After the tumultuous changes of the past few years, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread restrictions imposed to reduce its spread and the social and economic changes that followed, summer at the Jersey Shore appears to be getting back to normal.
It’s a calculation that shore towns have counted on for decades and continue to rely on as rental costs climb.
Ocean City-based Realtor John Walton said the sense of Ocean City and other beach towns as a family destination helps keep the rentals and hotel rooms full.
“They’re coming for the memories,” he said.
The cost of those memories went up sharply in recent years, since the COVID-19 pandemic.
That was when Bass noticed a significant jump in rental costs. Weekly prices rose steadily over the years, but after the restrictions of the early summer in 2020, rents increased quickly and renters still booked.
Rental costs went up about 10% last year compared to the year before, Walton said, and before that, they had already been increasing rapidly, usually above the rate of inflation. This year, however, summer rents have steadied, Walton said.
In hotels, motels and weekly rentals along the shore, the cost is far higher this summer than it was before the pandemic.
“It’s not just a Cape May County thing. It’s a statewide thing and beyond,” Cape May County Tourism Director Diane Wieland said.
At the same time, despite low unemployment and increasing wages, inflation and other economic factors have put the squeeze on spending.
“We all know that when we look in our pockets there’s not much money left after payday,” Wieland said. That has meant some people skipping the beach vacation this year, while many others made adjustments.
Whether because of economics, school schedules or a return to pre-pandemic vacation patterns, beach town weekly rentals are down for August, after two extremely busy seasons.
A survey of visitors, included in a tourism report from Wieland’s office this spring, showed 47% of visitors said the economy would impact their vacations. That can mean shorter stays, more meals in or pizza orders rather than dinner reservations and other cost-cutting efforts. Wieland said there also are more people visiting for the day.
“The economy is absolutely having a major impact on tourism,” Wieland said.
Walton said there are tables open at restaurants where there used to be lines and parking spaces at the Wawa. Still, he said, people are making money.
“Make no mistake, cash registers are ringing,” he said.
Wieland said there are accommodation options for different budgets, such as mainland campgrounds.
The shorter stays also mean that hotel, bed-and-breakfast and rental property owners have to work harder to remain booked for the summer.
A few years ago, increases or not, every week in the summer was booked by the autumn of the year before. Last year, most bookings took place in the winter or spring. This year, there are still plenty of options now for a week’s visit in August, and owners are not as eager to raise the rent.
In other words, things are getting back to normal after the pandemic, when either by law or by mindset, many felt their choices limited.
“People have options now,” Walton said. “They can go to Florida, they can go to Europe, they can go on a cruise. We’re back to what it was like pre-COVID.”
That has meant some owners are willing to offer a discount for an open week. Online booking has also sped up the process, meaning there are more last-minute bookings than other years, with more last-minute planning compared to a booked-solid season.
While local communities have been discussing offshore wind power proposals for years, and news coverage increased dramatically after a series of whale deaths over the winter that wind power critics have blamed on preparation work on the projects, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian and other shore town advocates say significant numbers of people in other communities know little about the proposals.
“With the technology, someone can book a place online and be on the road an hour later,” Wieland said.
As things began to open after the pandemic, Wieland said, many people were eager just to have any vacation and get away from their own walls for a while. Now, many vacationers are after once-in-a-lifetime trips rather than returning to familiar favorites.
“Now people are thinking about the bucket list,” Wieland said, taking that trip they’ve long dreamed of if they are going to dig into savings.
Often, the highest-end rentals include groups of three families coming together for a luxury vacation, Wieland said.
Costs are up for owners, too, she said, for maintenance, cleaning and everything else. That includes for the purchase of the property, as a second home or as an investment, with average property values in several shore towns approaching or exceeding $1 million.
Walton said a four-bedroom condo on the beach block in Ocean City that sold for $229,000 in 1998 brand new rented for $2,300 in the peak weeks that summer. The same place with several upgrades sold for $1 million and commands $3,200 for a prime summer week.
Bookings may have been slower this year, with more owners opting to make last-minute deals on price, but most weeks are full for most properties this summer. Still, some aspects of the market have changed.
Person-to-person rental options, like Vrbo and Airbnb, have taken a piece of the rental market once ruled by Realtors. That’s given impetus for more flexibility on timing, breaking the ironclad Saturday-to-Saturday renting pattern that makes for hellacious traffic just after noon at the barrier island bridges each year.
Most vacation rentals still follow that pattern, but renters can find exceptions more easily.
With the increasing cost, Walton said, visitors expect more, including from the cleaning services between renters. Summer turnovers by definition need to happen fast, but renters spending $7,000 for the week now expect more than a quick vacuum, he said.
That adds to the cost for owners, and to the work for the changeover team.
“I know that some Saturday crews have asked for raises and got them,” he said.
More owners are now willing to at least discuss allowing pets, with a security deposit up front.
“Fido and Fifi want to go on vacation,” Walton said, and fewer travelers want to hear that no dogs are allowed.
County data backs that up.
Fewer than half of American households have dogs, at 44.5%, but of those, about 78% travel with their dogs each year, and three-quarters of luxury, midscale and economy hotels now accept pets, according to the Tourism Department report.
Wieland said more than 80% of visitors to Cape May County are making a return trip. The county report showed most visitors have been coming for years, with 45.6% reporting that they’ve been coming back for more than 20 years.
Bass said she plans to keep coming for as long as she can, to enjoy the beach and the shared meals and the time with the grandkids.
“It’s just being with family,” Bass said.
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