September 24, 2012 - As the 2012 vacation rental season on Cape Cod and the Islands winds down, vacation rental homeowners listed on WeNeedaVacation.com have realized modest gains in their bookings compared to last year. The website reports that bookings overall were up 3% over 2011, 7.8% over 2010, and 12.8% over 2009. Regionally, Nantucket improved the most, up 9.8%, the Cape was next with a 3.5% increase, and the Vineyard actually lost ground, down 3.2% over 2011.
Notably, the majority of growth in bookings actually occurred in the shoulder seasons of May/June and September/October rather than the high summer season, whose bookings were up only .9%. Fall bookings alone saw a double-digit increase for the fifth year in a row, 13.2% better than last fall and over 30% better than the fall of 2008! As reported previously, cost-conscious vacationers are continuing to take advantage of the lower rates, increased rental inventory, lack of crowds and traffic, and generally great weather of the shoulder seasons, particularly the fall.
Rental home prices held quite well throughout the season, for the most part, with fewer homeowners than usual lowering their prices as the vacation season drew near. Overall, the average price reduction was a mere $20 per week, or .7%, compared to last year's $30 per week average reduction or 1.1%. (For perspective, the company has reported price reductions of as much as 2-3% in years past.) WeNeedaVacation.com believes this indicates an elevated level of homeowner confidence in both their initial pricing decisions and in the overall rental market this year.
Another notable trend witnessed by the website is the swing towards vacationers booking homes earlier and earlier in the booking season each year. Whereas in the difficult 2009 season when just half of all bookings were made prior to May 1, this year nearly 60% of the year's bookings occurred in the first half of the booking season. The natural assumption is that, as the rental market strengthens, vacationers are more concerned about procuring a great rental early rather than risk losing out on their ideal property because they waited. This is obviously good news for homeowners as early season prices are always the highest before late season vacancies require them to negotiate with lowered rates.
According to Jeff Talmadge, co-owner of WeNeedaVacation.com , the seemingly unremarkable rise in booking numbers this year relative to last year is not a cause for concern. The fact that pricing held firm throughout the 2012 season and that vacationers are making their rental decisions earlier suggests that the Cape and Islands vacation rental market is continuing its recovery from the recession of 2009 and is back to normal.