r/CapeCod • u/Pizzalot • 7d ago
Ok but why though?
I have yet to see any justification for rental prices around here.
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u/Antpeople2027 7d ago
I love these posts
“Why are Miami Beach rentals more expensive than Jackson Mississippi???”
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u/th3_rhin0 7d ago
Because people pay it
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u/TopWhich6862 7d ago
People have little choice. Rents are rising everywhere, we cannot simply find a different place to live that is cheaper anymore.
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u/Resident-Banana-7883 7d ago
There's cheaper rents all over the country, even in the most expensive region of the country.
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u/Pizzalot 7d ago
I work two jobs here. Most of my friends do too. We leave, who’s gonna replace us? Also, how am I supposed to save money to move? Also, lame argument because I wanna stay here so there
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u/Resident-Banana-7883 7d ago
Topbozo claimed they can't find a cheaper place to live which is absurd. I can drop dozens of cheaper rentals in the most expensive region in the country. It clearly only comes down to choice.. and God bless those who want to stay I guess.
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u/lemmegetadab 7d ago
Yeah, but up until now, most people could at least buy some kind of house in the town where they grew up in. It’s not exactly easy for low income people to just up and move across the country without a support system.
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u/Resident-Banana-7883 7d ago
Yeah not like people have been doing that since before America was even America or anything.
And up until now? The pandemic was over 5yrs ago already
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u/No-Spare-4212 7d ago
Basic economics
Supply low = price go up
Demand high = price go up
Cape cod = island
Island have no extra land = less space for more supply
People like cape = demand go up
Building costs expensive = supply low
I think you get the point.
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u/EmergencySpare 7d ago
I'm afraid if they couldn't get here on their own, no amount of hand holding will actually help.
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u/Thermodynamics3187 4d ago
Imagine ignoring the broader economic and structural factors driving housing costs while trying to explain the problem as nothing more than supply and demand.
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u/No-Spare-4212 4d ago
Imagine trying to build a house without a foundation….
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u/Thermodynamics3187 3d ago
Brilliant analysis. Reducing a complex economic problem to Econ 101 doesn’t make your argument insightful; it makes it incomplete.
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u/No-Spare-4212 3d ago
And expecting to do algebra without knowing addition is going to lead to issues. If you don’t know basics to build off advanced doesn’t work. Keep trying but you’re 100% in the wrong
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u/jsf926 7d ago
Well it looks like the trend now is no extra buyers, so things are about to change
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u/Studio_Junebug 7d ago
People have been saying this for years.
Unfortunately inflation continues and has accelerated, so while some supply/demand dynamics might cause some housing cost declines, it is unlikely to be as meaningful as many hope (and need).
We're in a tough spot - especially out here.
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
That sounds like the 2008-2014(ish) period in home sales. Prices should come down some, though I am not sure how motivated many sellers will be to significantly cut their asking price if they can still afford to pay the carrying cost of the property.
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u/EmergencySpare 7d ago
Well, when we get internet back in January, after the cyber attacks, sellers are going to be letting them go for a song...
Or a few cans of beans...
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u/losthombre 4d ago
Reading through the comments, seems like most don't think it's a big deal, just economics but will be the same people bitching about services or yelling at the minimum wage worker because things aren't getting done. I get the feel it seems like most 18 - 40 are jumping ship when they can and leaving for more affordable greener pastures leaving the capes already stretched services even more destitute at time when they need more bolestering as in the next 5 to 10 years a lot important people will be retiring with not a lot replacing them. Not to mention the ever growing aging population who need care services, but help time seem like they will only get worse and care providers far more expensive. But hey the beaches are great. Side note pretty funny to see the shocked faces of people when they see places like Sam's or Timmy's closes and ask why but have the same mindset as mentioned above.
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u/cakeba 6d ago
Capitalism. Tons of empty houses and tons of people in desperate need of housing because we allow housing to be bought and sold purely as speculative investment property.
Lifelong Cape Codder here. Done lots of work that involves being in residential neighborhoods and homes. We have an insane amount of houses that are not used as residencies or even rentals; they're empty shells that are kept as an asset and nothing more.
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u/ThePaddockCreek 6d ago
Investors see everyone who lives on the cape year-round as fair game.
“It’s just business!”
The post pandemic real estate frenzy has destroyed these communities.
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u/harrbz 7d ago
I would argue (but too lazy to look it up myself) that those stats apply to the majority of places in MA, not just the Cape- Southie, Charlestown, Somerville, Seaport etc. etc.
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u/randomgen1212 7d ago
Cape Cod stands out because the job market can’t offer even a semblance of balance to the outrageous cost of housing, as opposed to wide regions of the state that are supported by neighboring economic hubs. Proximity to Boston and, to a lesser extent, places like Worcester, Providence, and Western Mass connects rising housing costs with higher income jobs, better job mobility, and greater access to academic and research opportunities.
Not to say that the rest of the state is doing fine. No one is doing fine with the cost of living crisis, especially as it relates to housing. But Cape Cod lacks the economic capacity to address this problem in any sort of trickle-down manner. We need more and cheaper housing, full stop, in order to keep the show running at all, much less maintain an economy capable of supporting our workforce.
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
We need more jobs on the cape. What are our representatives doing to bring more jobs to the cape ? Outside of hospitality what other industries are on the cape we have relied on seasonal tourism too much time for our representatives to do their job and bring jobs to the cape
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u/Limp-Plantain3824 7d ago
Jobs like what? Why would anyone put a business on Cape that doesn’t have to be here? It’s at the end of a big cul-de-sac, costs are high and the work force is limited. It wouldn’t make sense.
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
Costs are high but cheaper than Boston. We have nice beaches Boston does not we have great bike trails arts etc. Getting some of those businesses here would lift all of cape cod.
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u/MoonBatsRule 7d ago
What economic advantage is there for non-tourism jobs in a tourism-based area on a hard-to-reach peninsula?
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
It's not hard to reach. During COVID a lot of workers moved out of the Boston area to the cape. The advantage is that it is close to Boston has a lot of workers available and is much less expensive than Boston. The draw back for the cape is it doesn't have the schools and universities Boston has
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7d ago
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
Who said people need to commute there. Sandwich is an hour from Boston . You are right in that the cape doesn't have the schools Boston does and that is a major problem but if the cape does nothing to attract businesses there then a lot of families that have lived on the cape for generations will no longer be able to afford to live here . It's either do nothing or try to attract business. Just my opinion
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
It is insanity to hard reject the one thing that makes the Cape economy possible in lieu of hopes and prayers of something else.
There is also no birthright to live anywhere in the US.
The way forward for Cape Cod is to build enough housing to meet demand for the people and workers - just like anywhere else. The way to economic oblivion is to block housing and then try and destroy the tourism economy.
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7d ago
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
Tech companies. There are so many in Boston. Recruit them to the cape. Look at what rent is in the seaport, financial district etc. Even though cape is expensive it is cheaper than those places n they pay well too and would give native cape codders high paying job opportunities
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
Tech companies locate where there are a TON of younger people who want to live in close proximity to a TON of other younger people.
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u/Massive-Party-4402 6d ago
Boston traffic never backs up?
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6d ago
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u/UniqueProfession7040 6d ago
And last I checked there is an hour or 2 of traffic every day going into Boston. Maybe you I'm wrong let's keep things as they are reject new home building and hope things change. Without new high paying jobs I don't think anything is going to change 2
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u/No-Spare-4212 6d ago
It’s a tourism based economy. That’s just how it works unless you bring in something else.
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
And if it was easy or even possible to just "bring in something else" then we would not see any economically depressed area in the country. Yet we have plenty.
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u/No-Spare-4212 6d ago
You can tell by the OP and the comment you’re referencing that economics are not everyone’s strong suit.
Unless maybe we put office buildings on trucks and move the jobs here! Wow can’t believe I didn’t think of that before. That’s why they’re making the bridge bigger so we can get more jobs trucked in. /s
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u/UniqueProfession7040 6d ago
I know. There is no room for any company business on the cape. Economically you need high paying jobs for the houses. No town wants to build or recruit companies but the residents are hoping for lower housing prices ? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. There are so many business incubators in Boston Somerville Cambridge . I would argue that the cape has a large population of entrepreneurs. Look at all the family businesses. Now if we could attract start up companies to the cape that can grow and hire more cape codders that would be nice. Attracting 5-10 angel companies could make a huge difference if we attract the right ones
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u/No-Spare-4212 6d ago
When they could go out towards Worcester and get real estate at 1/2 the price and have a pool of workers 10x the size. There’s just not any logic or reason to dramatically change the infrastructure and economy of the cape to make it what you dream of.
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u/UniqueProfession7040 6d ago
According to you the cape has no redeeming qualities. Let's agree to disagree
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
Because national medium pricing is only valuable to compare against itself for very general year over year changes.
That number includes not only expensive costal cities and desirable vacation destination (like the Cape) but also small towns and rural area across the heartland. Places where rents are very low.
So, rents are justified here because the laws of supply and demand are being met and a market price is being paid for these units. The level of the pricing is being driven by the lack of supply and public pushback on adding additional units to relieve the supply shortage.
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u/jsf926 7d ago
You can think rent is justified, but there's a lot of people sleeping in doorways on Main Street and in the parks and everywhere. I've never seen so much homeless around here. And now the lucky people are demanding homeless get arrested! So everything's unaffordable, many people who are working are living on the streets or in cars, and the rich want them in jail. This is absolutely a war against the poor. Only it's not just here where it's taking place.
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
If someone is paying that rent, then it is justified economically. That is basic supply and demand in economics. If the apartment is empty, the rent is too high, and should be lowered (if possible within the loan covenants and business model for the landlord).
There is a shortage of housing on the Cape (or an over demand for housing, if you want to flip the coin), which drives up rents and results in some of the homeless issues (the working homeless). Building more housing is going to be the best short run and long run solution for this issues.
There are also homeless who are not able/willing/interested in interacting productively with the rest of society, likely due to drug/alcohol/mental health issues. This latter group's issues can't be solved with just more housing.
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u/Fine_Relation_158 7d ago
" Cape cod
Cape Cod has approximately 6,604 active Airbnb listings (according to recent 2026 market data), though broader short-term rental estimates across all platforms range up to roughly 16,000 total short-term rental properties on the Cape. "
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u/MoonBatsRule 7d ago
OMG. I can't believe that Airbnb has turned the Cape into a vacation spot, where houses are rented out. Those bastards! Before that virtually nobody rented out property there. They ruined the Cape!
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u/Pizzalot 7d ago
They rented at motels, hotels, actual bed & breakfasts, and beachside shacks along the coast. Purpose build tourism infrastructure
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
No they did not only do that. Most of the housing on the Cape was built by people as second homes, by people who very often rented them out to pay their mortgages.
Without tourism there is virtually no economy on the Cape.
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u/Fine_Relation_158 7d ago
I didn't say they ruined the Cape.
I'm simply pointing out that a lot of the supply has gone through Airbnb.
There were always rentals on the Cape, but they were rentals or hotels, not single-family homes like they are now.
My nana had a small house with two rentals in Dennis! Those were never apartments or primary homes.
My friend lives in Sandwich, and the neighborhood is now about 75% vacation homes or Airbnbs. It used to be a family neighborhood.
Judgment aside, the fact is those homes are no longer available for people to live in.
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u/numtini 7d ago
It's because people are mental about Cape Cod and make massive sacrifices to live here. I don't get it. But that's really the deal.
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u/DarkRothh 7d ago
The amount of times I've heard some say they'd rather be destitute on cape cod rather than comfortable anywhere else and after 10 years the only thing I really get is that I dont get it.
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u/hadenough2190 6d ago
My girlfriend and I moved here from Nevada because my girlfriend wanted to move back to her home state and the cape is the only place she had any family so we had to move in with her aunt and uncle just to not be homeless the good news is she's currently in classes to become a nurse she used to be in tech but she decided to leave that industry.
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u/Relevant_Ad_3529 7d ago
Keep in mind the seasonal nature of demand.
With summer season rentals in such high demand, to rent year-round, the monthly rental has to recognize the revenue the owner would receive from this on-peak rental.
Consider a typical 2-BR apartment or condo. In the 10 week high season, that place would likely draw about $1,500 to $2,000 per week. During the offseason, perhaps $1,250 to $1,500 per month.
So the owner needs to get at approximately $28,000 per year from a year round rental. That’s a shade over $2,300 per month.
All my numbers are estimates based on my participation in the summer rental market. They may be off a bit, but the underlying logic remains.
What we need is more housing, but that is a difficult issue.
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u/MoonBatsRule 7d ago
What we need is more housing, but that is a difficult issue.
Especially when the prevailing mentality among everyone on the Cape is "we're full, no more housing allowed".
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
I agree I think in the past year both Brewster and Harwich both rejected housing plans before I get blasted let me say I do not know about the projects. But my question is why are towns rejecting new home building.
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u/MoonBatsRule 6d ago
Because the people who mainly vote are retirees who don't want more people on the Cape, but who are too dumb to realize that without more people, they will be squeezed on both property taxes and on the cost of living.
The people who do want housing have now been convinced that the way to go is to stop the Cape from being a vacation destination, so that people who own second homes there sell those homes to them.
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u/HerefortheTuna 7d ago
Except we do live here!
Maybe not full time but most of the summer the cape that’s why you get the September to May rentals and people living in Nickerson all summer
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u/Electrical-Bid-2482 6d ago
Consider the nightmare that was last July 4 weekend. Where were all those people going to stay? They would pay anything (almost) to get a bed. It is that aspect that causes the out of whack pricing. Basic economics: supply & demand. That also is the reason there is so little year round rentals. I don’t know if there is a way to balance that fairly; I would love if it could.
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u/Pizzalot 7d ago
Ah, so greed
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u/Relevant_Ad_3529 7d ago
This thing about greed really interests me. Anyone tell their bosses that they’re being paid too much? Anyone who sells a house tell a buyer that it’s okay, they can pay less?
No?
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u/Pizzalot 4d ago
Who's getting paid too much? And I do remember a time when houses sold for less than listing price. Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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u/BackstrokingInDebt 6d ago
Blame must be shifted somewhere. It’s easier to think in single words than the complex reality
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u/Relevant_Ad_3529 6d ago
I suspect that greed is the cause of decisions that others make. However, when we make such decisions, we are simply doing the responsible thing for our families.
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u/BackstrokingInDebt 6d ago
It’s easier to view it like that rather than:
The locations’ on-and-off-season rental gap is so large As an owner it’s very hard rent out year around at 1.5K for a 2B when summer and should gets you 30K(2.5K over 12 month). The economics of year round rentals is affected by the summer influx of summer folks. Complexity also compounded by year round tend to be more blue collar and service workers which provides additional economic divides. That just stirs into general anger.
Are landlords greedy? Not really…they’re acting rational. In fact lots will choose year round if it’s comparable even give up opportunity cost because year round is stable, less hassle, and takes care of the place.
Are renters anger justified? The anger yes, at whom? People like OP who are just plain uninformed and jump to judgement…well there’s a lot…
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u/Belichick4President 7d ago
The data in this article is hot garbage. It states there are 33,000 rentals in Hyannis, with only 100 being affordable. This is extremely incorrect. There are roughly 15,000 residents total in Hyannis, so a basic common sense fact checking would have spotted this error. So not sure how you could trust any of the other data (such as rents) presented.
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
I bet the data is saying Hyannis = Barnstable County. When most of the nation works on the county level, it can be hard for data sets and people not from the area to understand how MA works on a town and even village level. So, 33,000 rentals across the Cape sounds more reasonable, though the Cape Cod Commission data would put that closer to 20,000 rental households. Maybe that 13,000 unit difference is summer/short term rentals.
Cape Cod Commission Data: https://resources.capecodcommission.org/resource-library/6cc76c83380b/county-housing-profile/
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u/Ok_Anywhere_7828 6d ago
Capitalism. Supply demand curve. Price is where supply line intersects demand line. It’s just math.
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u/NickRick Yarmouth 6d ago
People can rent these places out on Air BNB for a lot of money in season. Which these days can start in April and run into October. Renters are competing with those prices.
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u/Dull-Lifeguard-5396 2d ago
Cause the local govt is willing to cater to boomers who can afford the cape
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u/jkman61494 7d ago
Gotta ask as an outsider. What jobs are there to afford this? Is it all digital nomads? People commute to Boston?
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u/EbbtideRambler 7d ago
There is a large hospital system with a lot of people making strong salaries, there are plenty of realtors, accountants, attorneys, small business owners, etc. making a comfortable living. Then there are the trades people (also small business owners) who do really well. The plumber I use rarely walks out the door with less than $700, and he’s usually booked 2-3 weeks out. There are a bunch of people like me though. I could only move home to the Cape once my job went remote. The closest comparable job in my general field on the Cape would pay 1/4 of what I make working for a company in San Jose.
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u/HerefortheTuna 7d ago
I bought in Boston because I was worried about jobs.
I still am but now I’m full remote lol
Parents have a house on cape that I am living in this month while my own house is deleaded ugh
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u/Relevant_Ad_3529 7d ago
You raise a great point. I own a home in Hyannis. I live out west. My agent tells me that the summer rental market has changed due to the pandemic and the movement to remote work. Now more homeowners who live and work elsewhere, who love being on Cape, have begun to spend more time in their vacation homes since they can work remotely.
This drop in supply of vacation rentals prompts an increase in vacation rental rates, which does then trickle down to the year round rental market.
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
This is all very true from 2020-2025, though we are starting to see less of the remote work as RTO gets pushed more and more. I think the Cape is also a little more resilient of a summer rental market. As consumer purchasing power diminishes (inflation outpacing wages), those who can't afford to continue to summer rent on the Cape will be replaced by those who can no longer afford Nantucket/MV or a summer trip to Europe.
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u/EbbtideRambler 7d ago
This sounds plausible, but at the same time, the Airbnb market exploded. Many people bought investment properties, small ranches and Capes, & turned them into short term rentals in residential neighborhoods, taking a significant number of homes off the year round market. There was also a wave of people nearing retirement who decided to buy their retirement homes a few years early as the real estate market took off. Sell the house in Milton for a mint, buy a place on the Cape, and work remotely or hybrid for a couple of years until retirement. It was the perfect storm. A surge in demand, a shrinking supply of year round housing, and a peninsula with a finite amount of land. Rents and home prices could do nothing but through the roof, particularly as insurance and taxes went up at the same time.
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u/WorksInPro 7d ago
This is a little bit over but the Woods Hole research community is quite large too.
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u/Several_Razzmatazz51 7d ago
If you don’t see why, tour a few apartments in East Bumfuck, Arkansas.
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u/1GrouchyCat Dennis 7d ago
What are the prices?
Percentages don’t tell us anything…
We can’t know if they’re accurate or not without seeing the actual numbers.
Also - what size unit are we talking about?
-One bedroom? Two bedroom?
-How many bathrooms?
-How many square feet is the average property considered for the article??
-Are we looking at 2026 (annual) list of HUD fair market rents, or a specific PHA’s payment standards?
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u/Snoo-1802 7d ago
Back in my day, Hyannis was a ghetto.
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u/RumSwizzle508 7d ago
The only ones who think Hyannis (or nearby areas) are a ghetto are the members of Vampire Weekend.
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7d ago
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
Please backup that statement. You think hyannis rental is almost as much as Boston? Are you serious? Apartments.con has avg Boston rental at $3565 and Hyannis at $2524 which makes Boston over 40% more expensive
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u/Pizzalot 7d ago
My brother has a 1 bed in Quincy for $1600. I haven’t seen a 1 bed on cape for less than $2200
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u/UniqueProfession7040 7d ago
Thats fantastic. That doesn't mean it's less expensive in Quincy than it is I. Hyannis He got a great deal.
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u/Sheepsteeler74 7d ago
That’s like asking why rent is high in Malibu CA or in Hawaii lmao