May 6, 2009 —After a slow start, vacation rental bookings on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are rebounding and beginning to pick up steam. Bookings steadily increased in March and April. In fact, April 2009 bookings were 6% ahead of last April.
Property views on WeNeedaVacation.com increased substantially in early March—literally the day after the Dow Jones Industrials bottomed out. Since then, property views are running 22% ahead of the same time period last year.
This past February, we reported a 19% decrease in bookings from September 2008 through January 2009, as compared with the same months in the previous year. Property views had decreased 7% in the same time period.
“People are still planning to take their vacations this year,” explains Jeff Talmadge, Co-Owner of WeNeedaVacation.com. “These numbers indicate that most people are booking their vacation rentals later in the season.”
Overall however, season to date, 2009 is still 16% behind 2008 in bookings. Martha’s Vineyard is only 9% behind; Nantucket is 29% behind; and the Cape is 16% behind. These numbers look at the total bookings for summer 2009 thru May 4th, 2009 vs. total bookings for summer 2008 thru May 4th, 2008.
Vacation rental prices have dropped since first reported at the end of January 2009, when they were 2.3% above 2008. Currently, Cape prices are only 1.4% above 2008; Martha’s Vineyard is stable, and Nantucket prices have dropped 3% below last year.
“These new statistics show definite encouragement about the upcoming summer rental season,” says Mr. Talmadge. “Even in Nantucket, where bookings and prices are down, there is good news for vacationers: vacation rentals may be more affordable this summer.”