Homes for Rent in Nags Head, NC

When vacationers head to the Outer Banks, Nags Head is often the destination. With hotels and short-term rentals steps from the beach, popular parks and outlet shopping, this Dare County town anchors tourism in this beloved region of barrier islands “I can’t think of a better place to live. We’re surrounded by water,” says Susie Sullivan Rainwater, a longtime resident of the OBX and the senior associate broker at Sun Realty Kitty Hawk. She says homebuyers in Nags Head are primarily looking for vacation homes and investment properties. “You have the week turnovers in the summer, and in the wintertime, the same properties are absolutely wonderful to visit because of the weather. It’s coastal cool.” A few thousand people live in Nags Head year-round, but in summer, the population swells to about 40,000. According to local lore, the town helped the area earn its nickname as the Graveyard of the Atlantic in the early 19th century when shipwreckers used the dunes in present-day Jockey’s Ridge State Park to lure in ships unaware of hidden sandbars near the coast. “Folks would walk with a nag, which is a horse, with a lantern around its neck up on top of the dunes. Boats would think they