The days of young, upwardly mobile New Yorkers renting a home in the Hamptons from Memorial Day to Labor Day — a rite of passage memorialized in shows like “Sex and the City” and the reality show “Summer House” — appear to be over for Gen Z.
Filled with a yearning for post-pandemic travel and buoyed by a strong US dollar, they are ready to travel to the far corners of the world in search of enviable Instagram photos and social media bragging rights.
“It's all about social media now and everyone wants to be discovered as an influencer,” Chloe Hector, 23, told The Washington Post.
While Hector's parents still go out East every weekend, she and her friends spend big holidays like the Fourth of July in the Hamptons, skipping the $120 lobster salads and $29 guacamole of peak season and heading elsewhere for the rest of the year.
“The Olympics and [Taylor Swift’s] I joined Erastours as an excuse to travel to Europe.”
Tony Abrams, luxury travel agent 400 pcssaid many of its clients are considering trips away from well-known destinations like St. Tropez and Mykonos.
“People want to go off the beaten path,” he explains, “and they want to feel like they've discovered a place that's not well known… They want to be some kind of Christopher Columbus.”
“All the cool people who are posting and creating content are going to islands like Paros, Antiparos, Marbella and the Cotswolds because it's different.”
New York City residents cutting short vacations on Long Island is wreaking havoc on the rental market, with prices for some properties dropping by as much as 50%, according to homeowners, real estate agents and renters who spoke to The Washington Post.
“A lot of people who bought during the pandemic then wanted to travel or needed rental income, so the market is saturated,” Michael Waltz, who has been renting out his East Hampton home since 2017, told The Post.
“This year has definitely changed things. People didn't want to sign here,” Waltz added. “I've been renting throughout COVID-19, [post pandemic] I did a revenge trip, but this year was tough.
“My broker told me that no matter what offer I get, I should accept it … even if it's 50 percent below the asking price,” Waltz added.
Sources said that because so many people decided to buy and rent homes during the pandemic, there are now so many vacant properties that properties that typically sold out by February over the past four summers are taking longer to fill.
“Owners assumed prices would rise during COVID and everyone would be able to take advantage and rent their homes,” Susan Breitenbach, a real estate broker with the Corcoran Group, told The Post.
In addition to fewer demands overall, renters are looking for shorter terms and more flexible contracts, explained Evan Kullman, a real estate broker with Compass.
“We had a lot of people wanting to rent for two to four weeks,” Kullman explained.
“People have more freedom to travel than they did a few years ago, so why not spend your summer vacation in the Hamptons or in Europe,” he said of people's changing tastes.
“We had a split season this summer and that took away from our income,” Breitenbach adds.
For renters, it meant getting a better unit for longer: Tita Royek, a full-time content creator, and her husband got 40% off the list price of their Montauk rental from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
And unlike previous years, when they had something locked down months in advance, they waited until April to book.
“We got a late start,” Royeck said, “but the owners really wanted somebody all summer.”
“We were able to offer accommodation for the two-month period between Memorial Day and Labor Day for the same price as last year,” she explained.
Royeck stayed back east all summer, and she said she was probably the only one of her classmates who didn't travel back and forth.
“I've seen a lot of creatives spend a month in the Hamptons, but I've noticed a lot of them just go away for the weekend.”
Despite the summer's economic downturn, brokers are already optimistic about 2025.
Kullman said he already has a “lease signed for next summer” and is expecting a “much more vibrant summer season.”
“The Hamptons will always remain an appealing year-round destination.”
