It’s no secret that real estate sales in the Hamptons are at fever pitch; less often reported on is the robust rental market. To see how much rentals have appreciated in the past few years, we decided to compare 2013 rentals with what’s on offer today.
Back in the day, we wrote an annual series of blog posts called The Summer Rental Roundup in which modest, average, and expensive rentals for each town were chosen to feature. In Montauk, a 600 square foot waterfront cottage was $13,200, Memorial Day to Labor Day. The only thing we could find comparable now was someone’s Ditch Plains basement, 650 square feet, for $16,000. There’s also a condo, 675 square feet, for $21,000.
390 Old Montauk Highway was for rent that year, asking $360,000 MD-LD. It is again this year, only now the price is $650,000. So let’s do some math, shall we? A lower priced rental is 40% more expensive than in 2013, while a higher-end is 80% more expensive.
Now let’s look at East Hampton. The medium priced rental, 4 Copeces Lane, was listed for $80,000 MD-LD. For summer 2021, 4 Copeces is available for a cool $150,000. The high-end property, 211 Lily Pond Lane, which was $425,000, is not available this year; and–nothing. There are no oceanfront East Hampton properties available for rent on either HamptonsRE or OutEast. Wow. The highest priced East Hampton Village rental we could find is $670,000 for a new-build, July-LD, on Davids Lane (pictured above). Nice but nowhere near the ocean. So for the math, we’re going to say a medium rental is 85% more expensive in 2021 than in 2013.
Now let’s check out Southampton. The lower-end property was 231 Halsey Street, at $50,000 for MD-LD. 231 Halsey is not available this summer, but you could spend $35,000 a month renting it for March or April. 65 Pelham Street is close to Halsey and comparable; it too has four bedrooms, five baths, and a gunite pool. You could nab 65 Pelham for July-LD for $125,000. The high-end property in Southampton, 396 Meadow Lane, was $800,000 for MD-LD. In 2021, it’s $850,000 for MD-LD. Finally, a bargain! A lower-end rental is 150% more expensive now than in 2013, while a higher-end one is just 6.25%.
To sum up: yep. Things cost a lot more now. More so on the lower and medium end than the high end, we’d say. After all, if you’re going to shell out a fortune renting, why not just buy? Something those East Hampton oceanfront owners seem to be taking to heart.