Vacation rentals leave room for deals

Oversupply, discount travelers create vacancies in some tourist areas
The Wall Street Journal

In summer-rental spots around the country, a number of houses sit vacant and owners might be ready to make a deal.

Many agencies say they are offering discounts for the last two months of the season. For example, Hilton Head Rentals & Golf has cut 15 percent to 20 percent off its remaining one-to-two-bedroom listings.

One factor: oversupply. Nationwide, rental inventory is up 12 percent this year, mostly due to new second-home construction, says Michael Sarka, executive director of the Vacation Rental Managers Association, of Santa Cruz, Calif. The Travel Industry Association of America, of Washington, D.C., expects leisure travel to increase by less than 1 percent this year.

Early bookings were strong in a few popular areas, but agencies say more travelers have waited to plan their trips, a dynamic some link to a rise in Internet sources that allow last-minute reservations.

Gary Strohm, president of the Irvine, Calif.-based Beachhouse.com, an online classified site for vacation rentals, said based on the activity of his Web site and property owners who advertise with him, he is finding that most people are waiting to the last minute to book in hopes of deals and other specials.

Of course, renters might have to be flexible on dates and amenities. The homes that haven’t been rented are often older and have fewer features like pools.

Meanwhile, procrastinators are out of luck in some spots.

Several Isle of Palms rental agencies report they are totally, or nearly, booked for the rest of this summer and are already taking reservations for 2007.

“We’re seeing record occupancy, even better than last summer,” said Alex Gregory, director of sales and marketing for Wild Dunes Resort.

On Folly Beach, near Charleston, vacation home prices have not been reduced.

Bobby Baker of Folly Island Realty said his company did not have an abnormal amount of vacancies and was not offering discounts.

And Bob Hodgins of Buffalo, N.Y., who rents out his Folly Beach house for the summer, said, “I could have rented six houses this summer if I’d had them.”

Staff Writers Delawese Fulton, Noelle Phillips and Ben Werner contributed.