Gas Prices Put Chill On Vacation Season

Along East Coast, Home Sales, Rentals Down, Causing Ripple Effects In Summer Vacation Market

(CBS)  It's summertime in Long Beach Island, N.J., and the living isn't easy.

Brutal gas prices and a stingy mortgage market add up to heavy weather for home sales and rentals.

"Our rentals are down about 10 percent and our sales are down about 15 percent over last year," realtor Donn O'Brien told CBS News correspondent Tony Guida.

Even the best rentals are hurting. A four-bedroom house right on the ocean that's usually booked solid from Memorial Day through Labor Day is not this week - and that's costing the owner $5,000.

"I just had a person who called me a few minutes ago and said 'Next week is open, get anything you can,'" said O'Brien.

Retailers are suffering too, with fewer shoppers spending fewer dollars. At Hand's department store in Beach Haven, owner John Turner is worried.

"Ninety-two percent of our sales are in the six months from Easter to Columbus Day," said Turner.

Halfway through the season, said Turner, summer sales are down at least four percent. The story is similar elsewhere on the eastern seaboard.

A motel owner on Cape Cod reports fewer bookings this June and fewer sightings of American vacationers. But Canadians and Europeans are coming, drawn by the anemic dollar.

In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, one realtor spoke of a summer slump. Even the fabled Hamptons of Eastern Long Island are not immune - a prominent realtor there told CBS News the number of home sales is off 35 percent and summer rentals are down by 25 percent.

The kitchen at Howard's Restaurant in Beach Haven, usually humming over the weekend, is not. Sales are down 20 percent - symptomatic of a wider problem, said manager Kevin Sparks.

"My produce comes from the Philly market and that market is off too, which means the whole region is off," Sparks said.

The culprit?

"It's gas, gas and gas," said Turner. "You know $4 a gallon kills people."

[captanahab]

Meanwhile, with everyone is so fixiated on oil and gas prices, we as a united people have yet to demand, and protest to our representatives and our government on a major scale It''s up to us folks, to make this happen for the well being of WE THE PEOPLE and our Nations security. Do nothing and suffer the conquences of what ever corporate America, Big Oil and Wall Street gives you. Enough is enough,it''''s time to make a stand NOW.

[captanahab]

Build nuclear to save carbon based fuel ( oil, nat gas )in elec power generation and do it within a within a 3 year window . Oak Ridge and Los Alamos, corner stones to the Manhatten Project, were built in a 2 to 3 year window that accomidated over 100,000 personal. The accomplishments of our nations ingenuity, industrial and construction might during the World War 2 years ,was unparalleled. Consider the amount of all other techonologies that were concepted, designed and built within a 1 to 3 year window durind that same time span. Surely if we have that same will to get the job done, along with the advances in todays technologies, we could meet, exceed and overcome any obstacle. The only down side is do we have enough nuclear fuel for now and how long will it last before the uranium mine goes dry.
The other item is open up all, thats rite, all potential petroleum sites... west coast, Florida, east coast and Alaska. Take the speculation away and watch the oil prices drop.
Our nation is now at a turning point and our lifestyles as we once knew them are in severe jepordy.Hopefully, the greed and misdirected national and global policies can be overcome%u2026%u2026%u2026if not, then God help us.

[bm6005]

terrorislami

You''re an idiot also!! We need to cut consumption fool.

[bm6005]

We need to shutter all law schools and MBA programs for 50 yrs until they all die out!! These people are highly educated idiots. I worked for 43 yrs and I''ve dealt with them all. Many Americans know how to run a business and they aren''t lawyers or MBA''s!!

[bm6005]

Even if they eliminate the CEO and use a bunch of MBAs it won''''t change the way they do business.
Posted by incog-nit

Ha, ha, ha! You gotta be *******'' me!! MBA''s have been ***'' up American businesses for years now. Who the he ll do you think is telling everyone to go offshore with all of our Mfg? Besides, dollars to donuts, most of the CEO''s ARE MBA''s!!

[terrorislamj]

HUSSEIN BELONGED TO A CHURCH THAT DIVIDES US RATHER THAN UNITE US,,,

HUSSEIN STAFFS HIS CAMPAIGN WITM MEMBERS OF THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY THAT DIVIDES US RATHER THAN UNITES US,,,

HUSSEIN STAFFS HIS CAMPAIGN WITM MEMBERS OF THE NATION OF TERRORISLAM THAT DIVIDES US RATHER THAN UNITES US,,,

HUSSEIN IS A RACIST WHICH DIVIDES US RATHER THAN UNITES US,,,

[mcv57]

I am using my vacation for scenic activities: I am going out of state to look for cheaper rent on housing!

[terrorislami]

FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM IS THE PROBLEM,,,

DEMONIC-RAT HUSSEIN IS NOT THE SOLUTION,,,

[terrorislami]

YOU DO NOT LIKE THE USA IN THE MIDDLE EAST,,,

BLAME THE DEMONIC-RATS,,,

THE DEMONIC-RAT DOCTRINE,,,

On February 16, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the "the defense of Saudi Arabia is vital to the defense of the United States." On February 14, 1945, while returning from the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt met with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia on the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal, the first time a U.S. president had visited the Persian Gulf region.

The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on 23 January 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region. The doctrine was a response to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, and was intended to deter the Soviet Union%u2014the Cold War adversary of the United States%u2014from seeking hegemony in the Persian Gulf. After stating that Soviet troops in Afghanistan posed "a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil," Carter proclaimed:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. (full speech)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Doctrine

[acolton1]

I got a Honda FIT 5 speed that gets 38mpg. It has an 11 gallon tank.