There are literally no long-term rentals at all here on Craigslist.

If you eliminate the ISOs and the scams, there are 8, and one is an RV.

If you look for pet-friendly, there is the RV.

There are almost 3,000 people in the "Looking for Housing" group I help admin on FB, and 10 people who joined a private LL group I set up.

The former long-term SFH rentals are all either being sold to people leaving the cities, or converted to AirBnBs. The city folk are willing to pay such high prices for non-updated, 1980's brown-paneled, nasty carpeting houses, those homes will never be affordable as rentals again. Well maybe someday if we have the big crash, but not any time soon.

I've read several articles saying that cities are going to have to think creatively to address the "affordable housing" crisis, which I fondly nicknamed the, "No, you don't get to live anywhere you want and pay bottom dollar for it" entitlement problem.

Supply and Demand. Cities for years have adopted "not in my backyard" zoning policies that limit affordable housing construction and charge fees that make is less profitable to build a $75,000 house vs. a $275,000 house. The fees/permits cost the same either way, thus incentivizing builders to get the most bang for their buck with the more expensive house.

We have hoods all over town with vacant lots that no one wants to build on because the neighbors are $40,000 - $50,000 homes. Maybe if prices continue rising, it will make sense to build, but the city must relax some restrictions and baseline fees. I think the city should sell them for $50 each plus offer free building permits to anyone willing to toss up a shack on those lots. The subsequent yearly tax revenues will increase from $50 per year to $500 year, thus generating more revenue for the city and removing blight and the "dumping ground" space many of those lots suffer from.

Mobile home parks are also mentioned as a solution, especially for downsizing retirees on fixed incomes, but again no one wants those around. Too bad, because I've seen some nice mobile home parks that are very affordable at $600/month rent.

We have run out of actual land on the actual Outer Banks. I mean there are still plots of land, but not many and they are $100k+ for a 50-foot lot.

There's still some green spaces left, but some of it is federal and protected.

On the mainland, where I live, there is a lot of empty land but the County doesn't want trailer parks anymore, so the few that are left are just deteriorating as you can't replace the old trailers with new (well, some places you can, but subject to onerous time lines and new codes.) There are old houses crumbling to bits along the highway and even those sell for hundreds of thousands.

Welcome to the new America.

We allowed this to happen.

Have you seen the new proposals from the govt to allow the slums to come into the suburbs by doing away with single family zoning and allowing multi family? Of course, the govt will use tax dollars to construct multi family low income places everywhere and we will get to subsidize it with higher taxes.

Upstate NY here. People want exorbitant amounts for their tax auction house that they purchased pennies on the dollar from 1 to 10 yrs ago.

Slapped some paint onto the walls (if that) and called it "improved."

Looking at a dilapidated duplex where the first owner had a fire, slapped a roof on (no permit pulled) turned around and sold it to this crazy lady for $9K and now she wants $23K for doing practically nothing (yes it has back taxes owed as well)

In a solid B to B- area.

W,

How much does the season play in the lack of listings?

No competition means time to raise the rents, cha-Ching!

Careful - nothing is private on FB. Comments might show on the front page of the newspaper...or in court.

We vacationed in the Keys a couple of weeks ago. Just for grins, I went looking at property. I, being used to rural MO prices, was blown away at what was considered "afforrdable". OMG

Seriously, $300K for a 1bed-1bath with a income limit of $112.5K for a couple was considered "affordable". I was blown away.

Here at home, I got yelled at by a neighbor that the new 1200 sq ft per side duplex was "too expensive" at nearly $1000/month. That is for 2bed/2bath and a 1 car garage.

Even the gas station is advertising here as $13.50 per hour starting pay.

Our season is starting up, and some of the inquiries are insane. Loved the one that asked if I accepted HUD. Well, it is advertised as $700/month, and HUD claims the Fair Market Value is $556, which I believe is supposed to include utilities. Ummmm - heck no! Did you even look at the rent advertised?

"The Season" (May - September) no longer exists. People are coming here year-round now, renting the big houses for family holidays and such. Slows down a little from the summer of course, but nothing like the old days when the place was EMPTY in winter.

And NC is a net-growth state anyway. More people moving here than moving away.

There is virtually NO seasonal housing for workers either. Last summer the foreign students who normally do the summer jobs couldn't come, and college students didn't because of Covid, so places were perpetually understaffed. Still are because there's no place to live!

I'd love to turn some of those McMansions into upscale rooming houses, but zoning prohibits it. They are considered Single Family Homes even though multiple families rent them together for just a week at a time.

Also, part of the problem is how cities zone their housing. All multi family goes here and all single family goes here, and the lot has to be a minimum of such and such a size (a variation of not in my backyard). This squeezes out the mixed single and 2-4 unit neighborhoods that used to be much more common. And, IMO, is going to push out the mom and pops. Also, the only people building 3 or more bedroom units (aka: family housing) is the government. This is also driving up the cost of rental housing.