They already have “summer on their minds.”
"Visions of Cape escapes melting away in hot market" by Jay Fitzgerald Globe Correspondent April 10, 2015
Sometime during February’s barrage of snowstorms, Christine Powers of Needham just couldn’t take it anymore. As she dreamed of the hot sun, warm sand, and sultry nights of Cape Cod in summer, she turned to her husband and said, “We need to get out of here and start planning now.”
Soon, Powers and her family were surfing vacation rental websites, beginning their search months ahead of their normal schedule. But to their surprise, many of the homes were already booked. “I thought it would have been easier by starting so early,” Powers said.
A lot of other would-be vacationers, it appears, were also dreaming of a Cape Cod summer during the depths of winter, finding some small measure of relief by booking those July and August weeks early, real estate agents said. Those who waited until spring may find very slim pickings — if any at all.
“The summer rental market for this summer is on fire,” said Joan Witter, a real estate agent at Sotheby’s International Realty in Osterville. “We are almost completely out of homes available for rent.”
Across the Cape and Islands, real estate agents say summer rentals are way up this year, propelled in part by a collective case of severe cabin fever. Jeff and Joan Talmadge, founders and co-owners of the rental website WeNeedaVacation.com, said an improving economy, lower gasoline prices, and more disposable income have contributed to the surge of bookings.
But many renters are citing this past winter’s severe weather as a major driver for their aggressiveness in securing rentals as early as possible, he said.
I'll remember all this the next time the Globe hollers hottest year ever.
Of course, that brutal winter does explain the increasingly feeble economic numbers when needed, blah, blah, blah.
Folks, the agenda-pu$hing lying has become so bad they are tripping over themselves in contradiction.
“There seems to be a real emotional need to get plans finalized,” said Talmadge. “They’re fighting the winter doldrums.”
And landlords are loving it.
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So far, rents are holding at or near last year’s prices, renters and real estate agents said.
Quite a difference when it comes to Bo$ton.
On the Cape, prices vary by location and the size and quality of the property. A small Dennis waterfront house can rent for $3,000 a week and up, while a large waterfront Osterville home starts at a minimum of $10,000 a week. Properties that are “inland’’ — a few blocks or more from the ocean — rent for considerably less.
On Martha’s Vineyard, prices run from $2,500 a week for modest inland homes to $50,000 weekly for large, high-end properties along the coast, according to rental agents.
See:
"Boston’s luxury real estate market shows no signs of cooling. The city posted its highest condominium sale of the year earlier this month when a Back Bay unit sold for $7 million. The three-bedroom condominium at 245 Commonwealth Ave. boasts an eat-in chef’s kitchen, two walk-in pantries, a private terrace, and, in a city where parking is at a premium, five parking spaces, according to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England, the listing firm. The unit is part of a newly constructed triplex in one of the city’s priciest neighborhoods, a place dominated by longstanding brownstones. These multimillion-dollar sales are becoming increasingly frequent in Boston as new towers of luxury units go up across the city, highlighting sweeping penthouse views and amenities such as spas and valet services. Last year, a Beacon Hill penthouse with an elevator and its own library fetched $13 million, according to LINK, which tracks condo sales in many of Boston’s neighborhoods."
I'm hoping their not blowing another bubble -- as the homeless also soar in the city.
Christine Powers, who began her search in February, had to look for weeks because many properties were already rented. She only recently booked a three-bedroom, waterfront house for her family of five. The weekly price for the West Yarmouth rental: $7,500.
“Prices are very much in line with what we saw last year,” said Powers. “It just took longer to find the right place.”
Melissa Kudla, a Ludlow mother of four whose family has rented on the Cape in past years, said she usually starts searching for a summer rental in April, but this year started a month earlier, using WeNeedaVacation.com as a resource....
There will be no vacation here. I slave away in the hot sun over a Bo$ton Globe every morning.
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