This past week I've been browsing Craigslist for apartments in other parts of the country, just to see what's out there. Trying to make sense of the rhyme and reason for the prices is a bit hard, partially because I'm unfamiliar with the geography. That said, provided they're not in rough neighborhoods, some apartments I've been finding are near dream prices. Of random note, "no pets" seems to be a depressingly common theme. So does having a cluster of 10-20 listings in a row all belonging to the same rental agency. As for houses, I think unless there is a crash, home ownership is just barely out of reach. It's a fuxking tease.
And depending on the market, Craigslist may not be where people actually find their rentals. In Los Angeles, for example, it was Westside Rentals for the longest time, but is now an odd patchwork where no one app or agency has them all. Also bear in mind that "prevailing rent" is a dependent variable with "prevailing wages."