Dollar down, rentals up
Real estate offices report surge in summer rentals
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
A survey of several island real estate offices shows that the summer 2008 rental market is shaping up well, with those polled noting that although it is only early March, their lease volumes are already exceeding last year.

U.S. DOLLAR TO EURO EXCHANGE RATE

"The rental market is much, much stronger than anybody anticipated," said Penny Dey, co-owner of AtlanticEast Real Estate and president of the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers.

Citing rental rates ranging from $1,000 a week to $50,000 a week, Dey said August, as usual, is booking ahead of other months, because that is often when families have completed mainland commitments and want to vacation before summer ends.

Dey and others also noted that the dollar's poor exchange rate compared with higher valued foreign currencies is likely a key contributor to a greater number of Europeans renting on Nantucket this year. In addition, the low dollar rate and continuing job layoffs may be keeping families closer to home if they vacation at all.

"We are doing more rental business with people from Europe who are coming here where their dollar goes further," she said. "We've doubled our rental business in the last three years. It is a good sign that people are still coming."

EURO TO U.S. DOLLAR EXCHANGE RATE

Dey and Great Point Properties co-owner Greg McKechnie agreed that many rentals are occurring because of the ease of increased Internet services that allow clients to quickly investigate individual houses and narrow their choices before contacting a rental agent.

Great Point Properties rental agent and manager Laura Fletcher noted that not only are rentals to Europeans up substantially, they are booking accommodations for at least two weeks, with many renting for longer periods.

"My brother lives in Zurich and it's cheaper for him to come here and rent a house than to go to Italy and rent a villa," said McKechnie, whose office data show 2008 summer rentals have risen just over 35 percent.

"Whether they buy or they rent, Nantucket has not lost its appeal and people want to be here because Nantucket is a special place," he said. "There is a demand to be here. Some may have decided to rent for the season and wait out the market a bit to see if the timing is right for them [to buy]."

Gary Winn, co-owner of The Maury People, said his firm's summer rentals are 50 percent above last year. He qualified 2007 as one of the office's best years ever. While the overall number of available rentals is stable, there is somewhat of a shortage of luxury, waterfront selections that are spoken for well in advance.

"Ours are off the chart," he said of Maury's total rentals, adding that houses fetching $25,000 or more a week are two-thirds booked already, while some going for $35,000 a week are reserved for the entire season. "It's cheaper than buying. I think Nantucket caters to a pretty wealthy crowd of people, but I think with the exchange rate and the expense of going to Europe people are still taking vacations."

Cindy Lenhart, owner of Compass Rose Real Estate, said her company's summer rentals have improved 60 percent over last year and are fairly evenly spread across price ranges. Though she is pleased that the figures are up, she said the year had a slow start which may be due, in part, to more people being out of work.

"We have done more leases with people from Europe than usual, and some people from England are interested in purchasing," said Lenhart. "I hope that the people renting from Europe offset the people who won't be coming from middle America."

Leigh Gaw, rental manager for Windwalker Real Estate, echoed her colleagues' observations and called her office's summer lease increases "healthy" over last year's numbers at this time.

"So far it's very strong. We are still getting inquiries each day, so the interest is still strong," she said. "The economy is not as strong as it was so [some] people stay closer to home, and we are getting more international travelers because the dollar is not good over there and their currency goes farther here. We are going into our fourth season of rentals and each year has gotten stronger than the last."