First, this is only really happening in a few cities. Second, there is an absolute explosion of apartment building construction. Anecdotally, in my city area, just about any vacant space is now undergoing apartment complex construction. One nearby apartment complex is advertising rents between $1,200 and $2,300 per month and I’m not sure what that includes (parking, etc.).
You and I must live in the same neighborhood.
BTW, all our children are moved out and on their own. It's nice to come home to a quiet house and have all those extra bedrooms for guests. Having grown children living at home must get old rather quickly.
Here in the Phoenix area, rental payments are often more than mortgage payments. My niece and her husband were paying $950 per month for a 800 sq ft two bedroom apartment, nothing fancy, and they have 3 little kids. A few months ago they bought an old simple 1300 sq ft home for $206,000. Their mortgage and interest payment is about $740 per month.
According to Zillow, we could get around $1750 per month rent for our 2000 sq ft home. If we took out a mortgage on our home the, P&I would be $1,169 per month.