- One house in the Hamptons rented for $2 million this summer, according to CNBC.
- Summer rentals in the US are going fast as more people look to travel in the country because of the pandemic.
- The housing shortage is making it more difficult than ever to find rental homes.
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A house in the Hamptons rented for $2 million for the summer, according to a report from CNBC.
A broker told CNBC the rental was done discreetly, without an official listing, but it's not the only sky-high summer rental property.
Summer rental homes are going fast this year, and are costing more money, as the COVID-19 vaccination rate picks up and more people look to travel as the pandemic wanes.
85% of vacation rentals in Cape Cod, the Outer Banks, and along the Jersey shore, are booked through August, according to online rental hub Vrbo. This time last year, just 30% of inventory in those areas had been booked.
The company's 2021 trend report found that 65% of people in the US plan to travel more than they did before the pandemic started and 82% of families have already made 2021 vacation plans.
Last summer, a Hamptons mansion also rented for nearly $2 million, but real estate brokers said it will be even tougher, and more expensive, to rent a home this year in locations like the tiny New York beach locale.
Another broker told CNBC that on behalf of a client he had offered a Hamptons property owner $2 million for a summer rental - and was rejected.
Rental home shortages are directly tied to the shortage of available homes for sale in the US, brokers told CNBC. Last week, a new report from Freddie Mac revealed that the US housing market is short by 3.8 million homes.
In the past year alone, the median cost of a home in the US shot up 15% from $300,000 in 2019 to $340,000 by the end of 2020, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. That measure does not even begin to account for hot housing markets like Austin, Texas, where the average home went for over $800,000 in March.
Vacation areas have also been hit by the shortage. Home sales in the Hamptons are hitting record highs, up 50% from this time last year, according to data from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The number of homes available for sale is at its lowest level in 13-years, according to the report.
The median sales price of Hampton home - which leaped 31% to $1.3 million - is now 20% higher than the median sale price in Manhattan.
Prices for rentals in the area are skyrocketing as people scramble to find vacation spots amidst the shortage.
"I've never seen the Hamptons market like this - ever," Hampton broker Gary DePersia told CNBC. "As soon as a property comes up for rent or sale, it's snatched up right away."