Originally Posted by Carolinian

Travel restrictions from state to state is a very new thing for the US, and one that seems to be expanding. My own home state of North Carolina has not restricted travel yet, but two of our counties have. Dare County which includes most of the Outer Banks set up roadblocks a couple of weeks ago and only allow residents into the county. Next door Hyde County followed a few days later but only as to Ocracoke Island, also on the Outer Banks. Unlike Dare, Hyde is not restricting entry to the mainland portion of the county. Dare and Hyde have no cases of the C-virus as yet. I read where Rhode Island is stopping cares with NY license plates and going house to house looking for New Yorkers. I also read where NY is talking about suing states that block entry of their citizens.

I could see a federal judge putting a stop to these travel restrictions within the US, but if not, at some point past the peak of the virus the restrictions will have to be removed. There will be economic pressure to do that. The Outer Banks economy is based on tourism and summer is their high season. The group that will be most economically vulnerable will be the owners of the many "mini-hotels", the 10 and 12 bedrooms homes that line the ocean front, which are virtually all rentals. Most of them do not cash flow now, or barely do so. People buy them on the "bigger fool" theory that a bigger fool will come along and pay an even higher price for them. The 2008 travel disruption just from the economic downturn led to many foreclosures of these houses, so the total ban for a couple of months in the spring rental market may send more of them over the edge financially. Anyone looking to buy such a property may have some good buying opportunities coming up.