You can still rent a Hamptons home for summer 2025 — if you think outside the box

In spring, the poolside conversation at the Setai in Miami Beach turns to the Hamptons: “Who is paying these prices?” someone asks. “Where are they coming from?” “Should we go to St. Tropez instead?”

This season, the search for the perfect summer rental is leaving these masters of the universe at an unfamiliar loss. Brokers say their frustration is understandable. Each year, the same Hamptons houses come up for rent again and again. And each year they depreciate — their furnishings wear, along with their novelty.

Yet demand and asking prices are going up, not down. And while new rentals do hit the market, the inventory of deluxe summer palaces that tick the vast checklists top renters demand remains miniscule.

“March was insane,” says Compass broker Yorgos Tsibiridis, who is currently listing a quirky-cool four-bedroom waterfront home at 54 Bay View Drive in Sag Harbor for $360,000 from July through Labor Day. “And the money people are spending! It’s the strongest rental season I have seen. I have a couple houses in Amagansett and honestly I could have rented them over and over, like 10 times.”

That’s a sour pickle for the Setai set to swallow. They’re happy plunking down $1 million for the season, but they expect quality in return: homes built within the last five years, fresh interiors, a beautiful yard, a large pool with a hot tub, proximity to the ocean or a village and a minimum of six or seven bedrooms.

Good luck with that this season, says Tsibiridis, with as few as 30 to 50 new homes meeting that criteria on the market from East Hampton to Montauk, and many times that number of interested parties. “The more expensive houses are the ones that are in most demand right now,” he says. So what gives? “This year we had a flood of people from LA [due to the January wildfires]. They moved to New York and now they want a house in the Hamptons. I’m also noticing more people this year from Miami and Palm Beach.”

So what’s a choosy renter to do? Try something new. Consider something with historic charm, like 10 & 12 Fair Lea Road in Southampton. It’s one of the village’s 19th-century originals, with a conspicuous octagonal turret reminiscent of a lighthouse.

This 13-bed classic is asking $1.35 million for Memorial to Labor Day with Erica Grossman of Douglas Elliman.

Or if you’ve never strayed from the beach, explore the eight-bed estate at 10 Morgan Hill Way in Bridgehampton.

Yes, it’s an impatient six-minute drive to the sand, but what you get in return is 1.4 acres of lawn-pool-and-tennis, surrounded by hectares of protected farmland.

It’s asking $950,000 for the season with Compass’ Breitenbach Advisory Team.

Whichever high-impact home you choose, you won’t have to sacrifice splendor.