Monday, Mar. 09, 2009

Living with less: S.C. beach rentals off

‘Everybody’s shopping to get the best deal possible’

Buddy Konecny has lowered rental rates on the Hilton Head Island beach houses that he manages about 10 percent across the board. But too many people still are window-shopping for better deals in this sluggish economy — even as spring break and Easter approach.

Konecny says he has never seen the market for rentals this bad in 20 years.

“Sometimes I think I need medical attention at the end of the day because I’ve been beat up on the phone so much,” said Konecny, owner of Seashore Vacations. “They still want to negotiate.”

With stunning job losses and a topsy-turvy stock market, fewer people are plunking down deposits for a vacation.

Even the corporate market is drying up.

That means discounts of 10 percent to 25 percent can be found on rental homes up and down the S.C. coast.

Rental agencies expect a wave of reservations closer to spring as people decide what they can afford this year and decide to take advantage of discounts.

“Everybody’s shopping to get the best deal possible,” said Paul Johnston, owner of Folly Beach Rental and Sales.

Johnston is advertising 15 percent off for vacation renters who book a condo through his company by the end of March. He is offering 25 percent off the rental price of an oceanfront beach house.

“The closer summer gets and the warmer the weather gets, people start tending to look more toward the vacation rentals,” Johnston said. “We are getting more hits on it now.”

Tom Maeser, market analyst for the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors, said rentals have been slow along the Grand Strand.

“What we’re seeing is that the rates are very, very competitive,” he said.

The upside, for would-be beach-goers, is that rental specials, coupled with discounts from other businesses — such as two-for-one restaurant specials — could give a family the same vacation they took last year for a lower price, he said.

Maeser said rentals Strand-wide are off by roughly 10 percent from last year. He hopes the area can avoid a steeper drop-off in business. In the current economy, he added, “I don’t see that as bad.”

Ryan Swaim, general manager of Dunes Realty’s vacation rentals arm, says his business was luckier than many along the Strand last year — rentals fell only about 1 percent.

But he knows this year will be worse.

“There’s no getting around that,” Swaim said. “People are holding on to their wallets longer and longer.”

An encouraging sign, he said, is that Web traffic is not down as much as bookings. He hopes those still looking for deals will say “enough of this doom and gloom” and turn into paying customers by spring.

Hilton Head’s Konecny said advance reservations are down about 15 percent from a year ago. He also has seen a sharp fall-off in corporate bookings for April’s Heritage Golf Tournament, typically one of his busiest times of the year.

“A lot of those have bailed out this year,” he said. “A lot of them have downsized.”

Konecny said some regular customers who normally book oceanfront accommodations are going for cheaper ocean-view lodging instead.

He thinks others are waiting until the last minute to see whether they can get deals on unbooked rooms. “We’re going to see some last-minute rentals,” he said.

Reach Rupon at (803) 771-8308.

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