By Paul Kurtz

OCEAN CITY, NJ (CBS) – It’s been a busy winter for realtors along the Jersey Shore. Demand for rental units is surging.

Many realtors are seeing double digit improvements over last winter and they point to a number of factors. The mild weather has brought bigger crowds to the shore. In addition, higher gas prices seem to be turning some vacationers off to the idea of travelling to far flung resorts.

“They’re not going to drive to the Carolina’s and to the Virginia’s and they’re not going to hop even on a plane, because air fares — let’s face it — are going to go up as well. So, they’ll actually stay closer to home and that drives a little bit of our business.”

Ocean City real estate agent Kevin Redmond says inventory continues to rise, “We seem to increase every year. For the last three years we’ve increased our rental numbers.”

That’s because more and more home owners who typically don’t rent their properties are now placing them on the rental market. Redmond adds that rental prices for the most part have not changed from the past few years.