The Year of Young and Upcoming New Yorkers Rent a Hamptons Home The long walk from Memorial Day to Labor Day — a rite of passage remembered on shows like “Sex and the City” and the reality show “Summer House” — seems to be over for Gen Z.
Fueled by a craving for post-pandemic travel and buoyed by a strong U.S. dollar, they’re willing to jet off to the ends of the world for enviable Instagram shots and social media bragging rights.
“Everything is based on social media now, and everyone wants to be recognized as an influencer,” Chloe Hatcher, 23, told The Post.
While Hechter's parents still head east every weekend, she and her friends spend big holidays like July 4th in the Hamptons but skip the peak season $120 Lobster Salad Or $29 Guacamole The rest of the time, go away somewhere.
“I think a lot of people thought that the Olympics or [Taylor Swift’s] Eras Tours as an excuse to visit Europe.”
Tony Abrams, who runs a high-end travel company four hundredsaid many of his clients aren’t looking to the familiar trails like St Tropez or Mykonos.
“People want to go off the beaten path,” he explains. “People want to feel like they’ve discovered a place that isn’t widely known… they want to be the Christopher Columbus of something.
“The good people who are posting and creating content are going to Paros, Antiparos, Marbella, the Cotswolds… because it’s different.”
The rental market is being hit hard by New York City residents taking short vacations to Long Island — some rents have dropped by as much as 50%, according to landlords, real estate agents and tenants who spoke to The Post.
“A lot of people bought during the pandemic and then decided they wanted to travel or needed rental income, so the market became saturated,” Michael Walz, who has listed his East Hampton home for rent since 2017, told the Post.
“It definitely changed this year — people didn’t want to come here,” Waltz said. “I’ve worked steadily renting and renting during COVID-19. [post pandemic] Revenge trip But this year was a struggle.
“The brokers told me if you get an offer you should accept it … even if it’s 50% below list,” Waltz said.
During the pandemic, many people Decided to buy a house and rent it outThere are a greater number of properties available now, and properties that would typically be snatched up by February during the past four summers are taking longer to fill, sources said.
“COVID prices have made owners nervous — everyone thought they could just pull out the money and rent out their home,” Susan Breitenbach, a broker with the Corcoran Group, told the Post.
In addition to fewer requests overall, tenants are wanting shorter terms and more flexibility, said Evan Kuhlman, a real estate broker at Compass.
“A lot of people were looking to rent a home for a couple of weeks,” Kuhlman said.
Speaking about people's changing preferences, he said, “Now people are more free to travel than they were a few years ago, so why not spend summer holidays in the Hamptons and Europe.”
“This summer, people split up the season and charged less money,” Breitenbach says.
For renters, this meant they got a better property for longer. Full-time content creator Tita Loyek and her husband got a 40% discount. Listed prices on their Montauk rental From Memorial Day to Labor Day.
And unlike previous years when he would book months in advance, this time he waited until April to book.
“We came in late to the game. But the owners really wanted someone for the whole summer,” Loyek said.
“We got the same price from Memorial Day to Labor Day that we got for just two months last year,” he said.
Loyek said she stayed in the East all summer, but was probably the only one of her peers who didn't go back and forth frequently.
“I saw a lot of creators who worked in the Hamptons for a month, but I also saw a lot of people just going away for the weekend.”
Despite a slow summer, brokers are already optimistic about 2025.
Kuhlman said he has already “written leases for next summer” and thinks it will be “a much stronger summer season.”
“The Hamptons will continue to have the appeal of being a year-round tourist destination.”
