Op-ed: NC’s Housing Crisis Not Limited to Big Cities

by Dr. Sam Currin, former NCGOP State Chaiman

North Carolina is in the middle of a housing crisis that is often treated like background noise. Home prices across the state have climbed far faster than wages, and rents in cities like Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Asheville have pushed working families—teachers, nurses, restaurant workers, the people who keep our communities running—further and further from the neighborhoods they serve.

Unfortunately, this isn't just a big-city problem. Rural counties are seeing their own version of the squeeze: aging housing stock, few new units being built, and young families leaving for states where purchasing a home is more attainable.

The causes are well understood, even if the politics aren't simple. We haven't built enough housing to keep pace with the people moving here. Restrictive zoning in many municipalities makes it slow and expensive to build anything other than single-family homes on large lots. And funding for genuinely affordable housing hasn't come close to matching the need.

Part of the solution must include single-family rentals. For many North Carolina families—especially those relocating for work, rebuilding credit, or not yet ready to take on a mortgage—a rented single-family home is often the only realistic path to a stable neighborhood and decent school.  

As homeownership slips further out of reach for many, this segment of the market isn't a luxury; it's a pressure valve. 

None of this requires abandoning what makes North Carolina communities distinct. It requires our legislators, city councils, and county commissioners to treat housing affordability as the urgent, statewide issue it is.