Cape May Ranked No. 1 Jersey Shore Destination for Renters

In the wake of Ocean City’s ranking as No. 1 for vacation home buying, Cape May gets in on the action as the No. 1 shore destination for renters. The rankings were released by FlipKey, a TripAdvisor product that serves as a HomeAway-style portal for users who want to rent vacation homes.

However, as Jen Miller points out on the Philly Post, the results–derived from reservation requests made through FlipKey–are probably not as scientifically reliable as a study from Johns Hopkins, say.

It turns out that the number of local real estate agencies that have signed up with FlipKey has a big sway on how a town looks in the survey. This is why a place like chart-topping Cape May — which I love, and is of course an extremely popular destination — might look even more popular than it actually is. I found two Cape May agencies listing their properties through Flipkey — one with 291 listings and the other with 173. Exceptionally popular Asbury Park, on the other hand, has no agency listings (and only eight owner listings) — and isn’t mentioned once on the FlipKey infographic.

So, yes, take the whole thing with a grain of salt. In fact, take all such rankings with a grain of salt. Unless they come from Johns Hopkins.

PREVIOUSLY: Popular Ocean City Vacation Homes in Every Price Range
• Is Cape May Really the Most Popular Shore Town? [Philly Post]

• Jersey Shore Travel Insights [FlipKey]