I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but have you looked into renting a house? If you don't mind the little extra work of maintaining a lawn and some exterior stuff, you might be able to find something in the price range you're looking for.

My apartment complex has raised their rates steeply too, so many of my former neighbors have found houses for rent that are cheaper than here. It has to do with the fact that when the housing market was booming and your average income family (who can't afford to buy houses in this area) were buying up all the condos and townhouses, many of the apartment management companies converted many of their apartments to condos. Well this practice has caused an apartment shortage, so it's a landlords' market. However, the prices of houses are falling (albeit slowly as compared to other markets in the country) so it's taking longer for homes to sell or owners have had to drop their prices. Many sellers are opting to hold out and rent out their properties instead of dropping prices. If you do go with this option, I would ask for a lease, so that you know you'll be there a while without them selling/asking you to leave at a moments notice. I think they only have to give you 20 days, but I'm not sure. And you could have it written into the lease that they have to give a longer period, like say 90 days, with a cancellation penalty. Of course the penalty works both ways.

Just my $0.02 anyways