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Paul Chiolo, of Keller Williams Realty, seen here looking out of a door in an unrented house, said Ocean City realtors had hoped to attract a lot of vacationers who couldn't find places in areas that were hit harder by Hurricane Sandy. However, he said, that didn't happen, and the rental market started out softly.
(David Gard/For the Star-Ledger)
Still dreaming about the perfect Shore rental this summer? Hurricane Sandy may have made it possible to get one for less.
Spacious houses rich with amenities are being offered this month at a lower cost than what is typical for August because a cloud of uncertainty still looms over the Shore as a result of the October storm, several real estate agents said.
A five-bedroom oceanfront house in Surf City had its rent lowered from $7,000 per week to $5,000, said Cyndy Friedland, of Oceanside Realty in Harvey Cedars.
And in Lavallette, a five-bedroom house on Bay Boulevard was recently negotiated down $300, to $2,400 a week, said Anthony Belli, of Schlosser Real Estate.
Renters have found themselves with more leverage this summer, as a slow arrival of vacationers forced some property owners to be more flexible on how much they charge for rentals.
"I deal with three Realtors and I have a sign in front of the house," said Michael Cronin, who said he has had trouble renting out his three-bedroom home in Normandy Beach this summer. "I had a few calls, but very little action. I definitely would budge, but I just didn’t get many calls."
He declined to reveal what he’s asking for his rental.
Shore communities hit hard by Sandy had been in a rebuilding frenzy to open in time for summer, but scores of rentals still have not come back on the market and many would-be tenants wondered if Shore towns have really bounced back, agents said.
"People are asking a lot of questions — about what’s in the water, the beaches," said Pam Maguire, a Lavallette-based rental manager for Diane Turton Realtors.
Lavallette is not the only town stung by the uncertainty.
Long Beach Island, a big draw for summer renters, has also been affected.
Friedland said another rental she oversees in Surf City — a $12,000-a-week rental with five bedrooms, a rooftop hot tub and an elevator — rented for $8,500.
"What it really is, is the classic free market at work," said Peter Reinhart, director of Monmouth University’s Kislak Real Estate Institute. "When there’s uncertainty, people react to it."
The slump has even affected towns hoping to benefit from a dearth in rental stock this summer. Realtors in Ocean City, which wasn’t hard hit, had hoped to reel in vacationers unable to stay in devastated communities to the north, such as Ortley Beach, said Paul Chiolo, a broker at Keller Williams Realty Jersey Shore.
That didn’t happen, he said, and a soggy June helped fuel a 20 percent drop in rentals that month.
Rental business has since picked up in Ocean City, but Chiolo still feels the season is a mild disappointment.
"We thought it was going to be a banner season," he said.
That’s given some bargaining power to people coming to the Shore.
In Spring Lake, where rental numbers are off about 50 percent this summer, a $5,000-per-week, five-bedroom house with a high-end kitchen was rented for two weeks for a total of $7,500, said Diane Glander, of Diane Turton Realtors.
Also contributing to the slump was the fact that Sandy disrupted the time frame when homeowners typically book reservations for their properties.
"We lost a solid six months of making reservations," said Friedland, the Harvey Cedars agent. "We can’t make that up in six weeks. We can’t do it."
Homeowners who managed to rent out their houses in January, February and March were able to get prices similar to previous years, said Shawn Clayton, broker and owner of Clayton & Clayton Realtors in Bay Head.
Anything rented later in the spring and summer went at reduced rents.
A late booking is what allowed Peter Ramos of Queens, N.Y., to save $100 this week on a $3,200 four-bedroom rental in Belmar.
"We came down basically on a spur-of-the-moment thing, after we heard how things were going down here," he said.
But even as the season winds down, Michael Loundy, owner of the Seaside Heights-based Seaside Realty, said he has seen an uptick in recent weeks, with families appearing to target the Shore for one last hurrah.
Will that be enough to salvage this summer? Maybe not, Maguire said.
"If we get another whole year under our belt, we will be in much better shape," she said.
Staff writer Erin O’Neill contributed to this report.
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