Rental market quickly recovering after storm cancellations, rebooks

The season may have started a little less busy due to hurricane destruction; however, this appears to be good news for last-minute renters. 

Parlsey Baldwin has had an influx of rental bookings this week for March and April, said Rental Manager Casey Alderman. 

“October and November definitely hurt us, because there was no rebooking anything,” she said. “Now that we are getting into season, there were not a lot of long-term rentals cancelled, it was more one-to-two-week cancellations.”

The rental market saw a huge influx of homes over the last year, she said, which are usually rented out with a one-month minimum stay. However, because of storm damage, there is slightly less demand for longer-term stays, so some homeowners are allowing shorter reservations. 

The BRC Group has had a few cancellations as well, said Sales Associate Tracy Cybulski. 

“We usually get some cancellations anyway when people’s plans change, but this year I would say most of it was due to the storm,” Cybulski said. “I would say we have a little bit larger inventory than we typically would going into season.”

Boca Grande Real Estate cancelled all reservations through Nov. 17, and Thanksgiving was light in terms of reservations; however, they are expecting a very strong Christmas season, said Rental Manager Don Lutz. 

“We have had various cancellations in January, February and March, but they are being rebooked almost as quickly as they are cancelled,” Lutz said. “We still have some availability, but we are happy with our occupancy levels given that we just went through two hurricanes.”