Greedy second home owners in famously-ritzy beach enclave face harsh reality check as Covid boom for $1,200-a-night holiday rentals slump

Wealthy second homeowners in Cape Cod are complaining after their high-priced rentals suddenly aren't being booked following a pandemic boom. 

Modest homes along the shoreline are on offer for upward of $1,500-per-night, however some rental owners are admitting they will have to slash their prices this summer season due to a fall-off in interest. 

Christine Peterson, who owns three rental properties with her husband, told the Boston Globe that during the pandemic she could book her homes 'three times over,' but is now struggling to find customers. 

'Your rates could go as high as they could go,' she said. 'Last year was where it took the dip... this year is definitely even slower.' 

Cape Cod in Massachusetts saw a rental property boom during the pandemic, but wealthy second homeowners say they are struggling to fill their properties this summer 

This modest home on the coastline is on offer for over $1,500-per-night, with one agency owner saying she is urging rental owners to slash their prices this summer 

During the pandemic, idyllic coastal properties became increasingly popular for those looking to escape limited city lifestyles. 

Real estate and rental prices skyrocketed during the boom, with Cape Cod becoming one of the hotbeds of affluent new homeowners. 

The number of short-term rentals listed with the state increased from 12,000 in 2021 to over 16,000 in 2022 and 18,000 in 2023 on the Cape. 

However, for the first time in years, last summer saw rental owners struggle to fill their spaces. 

Peterson said her coastal home in Cape Cod failed to find a single renter for an entire week in July, the first time in 15 years the property sat empty. 

'It was unlike anything before,' she said of the dip. 

The home reportedly still has openings this summer too, one of many rentals in the region that are seeing the marked decline. 

'Owners need to readjust their expectations,' said Ryan Castle, CEO of the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors, told the Boston Globe. 

'You cannot compare numbers for what we saw in 2021 and 2022 to the future. Those numbers were inflated because of the pent-up demand of the pandemic, and we’re never going to get back to those numbers.' 

Castle added the Cape is far from an exception, and the summer rental market is 'flat across the board' nationwide. 

This rental is on offer for $970-per-night, but is one of many that may be hit by the summer slump as insiders say the rental market is 'flat' 

On Cape Cod, the number of short-term rentals listed with the state increased from 12,000 in 2021 to over 16,000 in 2022 and 18,000 in 2023 

Martha Murray, who owns a rental agency on the Cape, said her agency urged rental owners to cut their prices amid the dip, which many wrongly believed to be a 'fluke' last year that would rebound this summer. 

She said she told owners to 'keep your prices somewhat reasonable', with some forced to slash their prices by as much as $1,000 a week. 

Part of the surge of rental homes in the area can be put down to more owners complying with regulations and registering their properties with the state. 

But it also shows that more wealthy second homeowners who fled to the coastline when the pandemic set in have since moved back into the cities, and are putting their beach homes up for rent. 

'Now, they’re using it as an income-generating property,' said Paul Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.