When Jersey shore rental prices soared in 2022, Dave Bara was inspired to examine other vacation options.
"It just started to become too expensive," Bara said. "The rent went through the roof, and I told my wife that I wasn't going to the shore that summer. When you're from Philadelphia, you go to the Jersey shore every summer since it's tradition. You think back to all of those years when you were growing up going to the shore. There's a lot of memories."
However, the Fox Chase resident overcame the tug of nostalgia and booked a very different vacation. The Bara family experienced a Royal Caribbean cruise to Haiti in 2022. The cost for the week at sea, lounging at a private Caribbean island for the Bara brood was $4,000.
"You factor in the rent for a place in Wildwood, and then add on all the money you spend on the Boardwalk, it's a couple hundred dollars for lunch, dinner and snacks," Bara said. "It all adds up. But when you go on a cruise, all the food and drinks are paid for in advance. You don't have to worry about anything but tips. If I'm spending $4,000 for a Wildwood rental, I'm staying at the bottom of the barrel."
According to Pete Madden, who owns Ocean City's Goldcoast Sotheby's International Realty, the range for a summer rental in the popular dry shore town is between $2,000 to $25,000. The latter, typically a six bedroom, three-family on the beach digs, goes for a pretty penny.
The rental market is consistent with 2024.
"It's very similar," said Madden, who is Ocean City Council president. "Last year, we did OK, but we were a little off on the rentals. We still have a pretty high demand. The prices for houses are creeping up. They're expensive and so the rentals are also expensive."
The rental perspective has changed.
Those looking for a week at the shore can no longer look at 2019 rates.
"A new normal has been established," Madden said. "Everything changed during post-COVID. The rental rates went through the roof post-COVID. Everyone wanted to go to the shore."
That includes those who own shore houses.
"People have no problem using their second home at the shore if it's not rented," Madden said.
But there are plenty of folks, like the Bara family, that are looking for more bang for their buck when it comes to vacation.
"There are limits to what you spend," Bara said. "I know people who have gone to Europe and Mexico for less than it costs to stay at Wildwood."
Is the rental market slowing down?
"It's possible," Madden said. "This year will be a big determining factor to see where we are. We need more data. We're only a couple years out of COVID."
However, it's stable in Cape May, according to Beth Bell-Slemmer of Cape May's DeSatnick Real Estate. "We held steady in 2024. We had a little bit of a drop off last year."
But Bell-Slemmer believes that has more to do with the pent-up urge to travel after the pandemic than pricing.
"A lot of people hadn't gone on vacations in three years, and it took a while to restore their confidence in traveling," she said. "So many people went on trips away from the area last year."
Bell-Slemmer is optimistic about the summer of 2025, based on homes already rented.
"Many of the four-bedroom homes are booked already," she said. "That's due to the many families who come down here every year. It's different in Cape May. Other Jersey shore towns are seeing more of a drop since quite a few people visit here from all over the country and outside the country."
According to Bell-Slemmer, rental prices for the summer of 2025 — which range from $1,800 to $18,000 for the week — are about the same as 2024.
"Not many people have raised or lowered their rates," she said. "The cost to rent is about the same."
However, it's a different story for Atlantic City, where condo rentals peaked six years ago.
"2019 was way better than the pandemic years," Boardwalk Realty agent David Hirsch said. "We had less people down here renting during the pandemic. Instead houses and condos sold rapidly during the pandemic. But we're doing fine this year."
Hirsch is almost out of summer rentals.
"There are still some left," he said. "But people like coming down here. The beaches are clean and free and we have all of these attractions in Atlantic City."
Hirsch is renting studios for $3,000 a month, one-bedrooms for $4,000 a month and two- bedrooms for $5,000 a month.
"Those are the prices and they're renting," he said.
Time will tell if the shore rental market is overpriced. Many start making their vacation decisions toward the end of winter.
"The longer the Eagles play, the slower it is for rentals being booked," Madden said. "When the Eagles season ends and the weather gets nicer, people start thinking about their summer vacation and they start to look at places. We'll see how it goes this year."
Bara, who has opted for a summer cruise each of the last three summers, is uncertain about where he'll head for the family trip. However, the DJ/hockey coach is sure where he will not spend his disposable income during the summer of '25.
"I'm about to figure out what we'll do this year," Bara said. "It's hard for me not to book another cruise. There are so many different islands to go to. I don't know if we're going on a cruise again but I do know that we won't be going back to the shore. We're not missing anything."
