Cape May, New Jersey Short-Term Rental Market
Atlantic City/Cape May NJ STRs averaged $288/night at 36.7% occupancy in April 2026 across 10,360 active listings.
Quick Answer: Cape May, New Jersey is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 37%. average monthly revenue is $2,625. average daily rate is $288. the top operator is Long & Foster Vacations with 651 listings. market score is 49/100 (grade D).
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
The Atlantic City and Cape May, NJ short-term rental market is one of the largest coastal vacation rental markets in the Northeast, with 10,360 active listings as of the latest snapshot. Entire-place rentals dominate at 10,134 listings (97.8%), with 215 private rooms and 11 shared rooms rounding out the mix. Bedroom distribution is broad and skews toward larger vacation properties: 3-bedrooms lead at 2,876, followed by 2-bedrooms (2,229), 4-bedrooms (1,733), 1-bedrooms (2,004), and 5-bedrooms (1,499). The channel spread shows strong dual-platform presence: 4,557 listings appear on both Airbnb and VRBO, with 3,020 Airbnb-only and 2,783 VRBO-only properties, indicating a market where VRBO holds meaningful share relative to most inland markets.
In April 2026, average daily rate was $287.87 and occupancy was 36.74%, producing a RevPAR of $105.75 and average monthly revenue of $2,625. On a year-over-year basis, ADR rose 3.18% while occupancy declined 7.37%, resulting in a marginal 0.16% revenue decline versus April 2025. The market total score is 48.99, with revenue growth scoring 83.20 (the highest sub-score) and investability at 76.88. Seasonality (44.48) and rental demand (44.97) reflect the concentrated summer peak. Cape May County drew 12.1 million visitors in 2024, generating $8.1 billion in visitor spending, with lodging sector revenue reaching $3.59 billion in 2023.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26% | $236 | $1,872 |
| Feb | 36% | $244 | $1,942 |
| Mar | 36% | $248 | $2,173 |
| Apr | 39% | $268 | $2,477 |
| May | 47% | $318 | $2,867 |
| Jun | 66% | $388 | $5,312 |
| Jul | 76% | $399 | $7,130 |
| Aug | 77% | $404 | $7,383 |
| Sep | 40% | $339 | $3,719 |
| Oct | 25% | $287 | $2,454 |
| Nov | 30% | $274 | $2,171 |
| Dec | 33% | $282 | $2,295 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Cape May
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long & Foster Vacations | 651 | 1,596 | ★ 4.42 |
| 2 | Experience Vacation Rentals | 240 | 1,201 | ★ 4.46 |
| 3 | Evolve | 201 | 5,688 | ★ 4.68 |
| 4 | Compass NJ – Laricks Team | 178 | 115 | ★ 4.88 |
| 5 | Tim Kerr Sotheby's International Realty | 154 | 267 | ★ 4.60 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Cape May?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 2,004 |
| 2 bed | 2,229 |
| 3 bed | 2,876 |
| 4 bed | 1,733 |
| 5 bed | 1,499 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $292 |
| Luxury | $576 |
| Professionally Managed | $282 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $1,972 |
| Entire Place | $2,668 |
| House | $3,197 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 29.2% |
| vrbo | 26.9% |
| both | 44% |
Investment Analysis
The Cape May/Atlantic City market presents a high-ADR, high-home-value investment profile. The typical home value is $723,441 (April 2026 Zillow estimate), with median sale prices averaging $826,667 and median list prices at $837,817. Properties sell close to asking: the sale-to-list ratio is 0.987 and median days to pending is 26, indicating a competitive buyer market with limited negotiating room.
At April 2026 average monthly revenue of $2,625, annualized gross revenue per listing is approximately $31,504. Against the typical home value of $723,441, that implies a gross yield of approximately 4.4%. This calculation uses average listing revenue and typical home value; waterfront, beachfront, and larger properties will vary significantly. Peak-season months (July and August) each generate $7,000+ average monthly revenue, making yield calculations highly sensitive to whether high-season weeks are owned or under property management agreements.
The revenue growth score of 83.20 is notable. Annual ADR has grown from $260 in 2017 to $344 in 2025, a 32% increase. Annual average revenue per listing peaked at $4,107 in 2025, the highest on record, up from $2,504 in 2017. Luxury-tier listings average $576.27 ADR, a 100% premium over the all-listings average, signaling strong upside for premium product. Professionally managed properties average $281.77 ADR, nearly matching the market average, unlike markets where PM inventory skews toward budget properties.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
In April 2026, the average booking lead time for Atlantic City/Cape May STRs was 41.21 days, meaning guests typically book about 6 weeks in advance. For a coastal summer market, this is a relatively short lead time, suggesting peak summer weeks should be priced firmly far in advance and that last-minute availability in shoulder months is common.
The average length of stay is 2.90 nights, the shortest in this batch. A 2.9-night average points to predominantly weekend bookings, consistent with a drive-market coastal shore destination drawing day-trip and weekend visitors from Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey metro areas. At under 3 nights average stay, operators can expect approximately 10 guest rotations per month at peak occupancy, the highest turnover rate in this group. This increases cleaning costs and requires efficient operations, but also provides more pricing flexibility and reduces the impact of any single cancellation.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
The Atlantic City and Cape May area has one of the more rigorous STR regulatory environments in this batch. In the City of Cape May specifically, all STR operators must hold a City of Cape May Annual Mercantile License before advertising or renting. The annual license fee is $300 for units under 4,000 square feet and $1,000 for units over 4,000 square feet, plus a $50 annual tourism fee surcharge and $25 parking surcharge. All units must pass an annual fire safety inspection by the Fire Prevention Bureau before the license is issued.
Operators must designate a managing agent residing in Cape May County and carry liability insurance: $300,000 minimum for owner-occupied multi-unit properties of 4 or fewer units, and $500,000 minimum for all other rental properties. There is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement and no annual nights cap. Enforcement is rated strict: the city uses nightly automated web-scraping technology to identify unlicensed listings across approximately 10,000 websites. As of March 2025, over 40% of Airbnb and VRBO listings were reported non-compliant.
The combined lodging tax burden in Cape May city is 14.625%: 6.625% NJ sales tax, 5% NJ state occupancy fee, and 3% Cape May city municipal occupancy tax (raised from 2% in January 2022). Airbnb and VRBO collect and remit state taxes automatically for reservations under 90 consecutive nights. Regulations vary across the broader Atlantic County and Cape May County jurisdictions; always verify local rules for the specific municipality.
Market Comparison
The Atlantic City/Cape May market’s April 2026 occupancy of 36.74% is below the U.S. STR median of approximately 55%, consistent with the heavy summer concentration. The 2025 annual average occupancy of 44.12% also trails the national median, but the $287.87 April ADR significantly exceeds the approximate U.S. STR median of $220. Annual average revenue of $4,107 in 2025 outperforms most inland and rural markets.
The professional management segment is dominated by a real-estate-brokerage hybrid model unusual in most vacation markets. Long and Foster Vacations leads with 651 listings and a 4.422 average rating. Experience Vacation Rentals holds 240 listings with a 4.455 rating. Evolve manages 201 listings with a 4.684 rating. Compass NJ (Laricks Team) holds 178 listings with a 4.876 rating (highest in the top 5), and Tim Kerr Sotheby’s International Realty rounds out the group with 154 listings and a 4.600 rating. The top 5 operators together manage 1,424 listings, approximately 13.7% of the 10,360-listing market. The prominence of real estate brokerage brands (Long and Foster, Compass, Sotheby’s) in vacation PM reflects the shore market’s traditional cross-selling of real estate and rental management.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cape May, New Jersey
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