Shore vacancies in Ocean City, high rental prices to blame

OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- If you're among those still longing to secure some time at the beach, there's good news.

Even now at peak season, there are still higher than normal vacancy rates, and prices are coming down.

Action News spoke with a local realtor who said the week of July 6 used to always sell out, but he has 260 places open this week.

"People are going other places. It's a great time to fly. A lot of people are going abroad and going other places other than Ocean City. We do mostly one-week rentals. People do one week here and then go other places. Where we used to do two weeks or a month, now it's down to one," said John Greiner, a salesman with Berger Realty.

Shore renters are noticing sky-high prices this summer.

"We kind of gulp and write the check," said Sandy Selby, from Akron, Ohio.

Greiner showed us one beachfront property in Ocean City.

"This is $20,000 a week. It is fully booked from April all the way through October," said Greiner.

This week, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom, beachfront property in Ocean City is sitting vacant, and that hefty rental price might be the reason why.

Greiner explained shore rentals are experiencing an adjustment period post-pandemic.

"The COVID-19 years were our best years -- when everybody was coming down right through the end of the year," said Greiner.

Now, he said the consumer knows what they're looking for. If you're overpriced, you are not going to get renters.

"Beach fronts always go for higher. The beach fronts are taking a little bit of a hit this year, especially in the $12,000 to $16,000 range. People just don't want to spend that much money to be on the beach," said Greiner.

Another reason rentals have gone up: electric bills are higher, said Greiner.

"And also the advice of realtors taking advantage of a strong market," he adds.

However, he says you have negotiating power if you book last minute.

"Now's the time to come down. If you call a week ahead before each week, you can probably get you know, 10, 20, 30, 40 percent off," said Greiner.

He says one empty week affects a renter's bottom line. Some annual shoregoers say they're taking notice.

"It didn't seem that there was many people on the beach this year as there have been in the past, and so we were wondering if the market was starting to weaken a little bit. So maybe next year they'll charge $18,000," said Selby.

Greiner said he's advising his owners to keep prices the same or lower for next year.

Despite the empty weeks, he said he's still on track to do better than last year.