Expect A Montauk Rental Boom This Summer

It’s official: Montauk has been found.

And if last season’s tourism onslaught didn’t prove it, this one certainly will—thanks to Hurricane Sandy.

In October, the “superstorm” ravaged the east Atlantic coastlines, destroying the hottest vacation spots—the Jersey Shore, the Rockaways, Fire Island and beaches at points west on Long Island, to name a few—forcing tourists to look, and summer, elsewhere.

“The inventory is very limited and the prices have been boosted. Montauk used to be the most reasonable, but now it’s not.” Atlantic Beach Realty Group broker associate Lisa Grenci said during a telephone interview last week. “We’ve been bombarded. It’s been the busiest rental season I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been a real estate broker since 1988 for Montauk specifically.”

The prospective 2013 summer season tourists have arrived early, East End realtors agree. Typically, the agencies don’t begin seeing interested renters until late December into early February. This year, they started scrupulously combing Montauk’s inventory in November, and traffic has only escalated since then, “like a snowball downhill,” Town & Country Real Estate owner Judi Desiderio wrote in an email last week.

“Most homes are already rented,” added agent Theresa Eurell, who works out of Town & Country’s Montauk office. “And the demand is huge.”

Due to lack of inventory, many homeowners have boosted their prices—some as much as 20 percent, but most around 10

percent, according to Joan Hegner, Montauk-based Corcoran Group broker and senior vice president.

The lower-end rentals have remained steady, she said, because many of the homeowners are renting to their previous tenants, as in the Ditch Plains area. By Thanksgiving, the surfing hub was almost completely sold out, she said.

The $50,000-and-below price point for those renting from Memorial Day to Labor Day has also been rented, Ms. Hegner said. She added that in Hither Hills there are still some homes for rent available in the higher price points—though they may not be what first-time out-of-town renters are expecting.

“Prices in Montauk are quite a bit higher than at the Jersey Shore,” Ms. Hegner wrote in an email last week. “Montauk primarily categorizes monthly and seasonal rentals, as opposed to weekly rentals at the Jersey Shore. People who want to be in Montauk want to be here for a longer period of time.

“In comparison to other parts of the Hamptons, Montauk does not have the large estate properties,” she continued. “So our higher-end rentals are $100,000 to $300,000 for the season, where in East Hampton and Southampton, higher-end rentals range from around $500,000 to over $1 million.”

Ms. Grenci said that she has been receiving inquires on a daily basis. Historically, four-bedroom abodes are the first to go, she said, but now, those rentals are garnering attention from a different crowd.

“There’s definitely been a shift. It’s been more family-oriented and now it’s more hipster-oriented,” she laughed. “I don’t know what else to say about that. There’s more fedoras.”

When asked how a New Jersey presence could affect the area, Ms. Grenci declined to make any predictions.

“All I can speculate is the devastation along the coastal Atlantic area has limited the prospects of the people who rented in those areas,” she said. “We’re getting people from as far as New Jersey who normally would have rented closer to home. The majority are still New Yorkers.”

Some real estate agents are concerned about the direction the hamlet is headed. Many Montauk houses are also listed on vacation websites that allow tourists to purchase weekly, and even nightly, rentals. Agents say that there is also the threat of group rentals—identified as four or more unrelated persons renting under one roof—which are illegal on the East End. These changes could bring in different crowds to the beachside community, agents say.

“There is pressure by group rentals to go to Montauk and owners are very averse to that, for the most part,” Krae Van Sickle, Bridgehampton-based Saunders broker and senior vice president, wrote in an email last week. “Pressure from groups and the trend for partying will continue and cause friction with the local residents.”

But last year, Montauk had one of its most successful summers in the last two decades, Ms. Hegner said. Rentals were strong, hotels did well and restaurants were packed. The community will not change, she said, but there will be more people.

“Montauk in the winter is still a sleepy fishing town,” wrote Brown Harris Stevens agent Veronica Montemarano in an email last week, “but in the summer, Montauk is now one of the most vibrant and inviting of the East End towns because of its relaxed vibe combined with a new, exciting energy that the new businesses have been bringing to town. I think it’s going to be extra busy this summer.”