This year has been the best year for Boone’s housing economy since 2007, said Marc White of Cash Realty & Construction and president of the Multiple Listing Services.

Before the housing crash, 2007 was the last year of great activity, White said.

Sales are finally starting to go up and almost paralleling the number of sales in 2007.

This alone, White said, is a good indication of the market’s “return to normalcy.”

One of the reasons for the increase of sales is from buyers feeling more confident in the economy, he said.

“It’s starting to slowly get better and it’s going to be a slow growth over a number of years, but as that goes up we are going to continue to see an increase in transactions,” White said.

White said the recent growth is also from the university hiring for the first time in three years.

The new employees are “bringing up kids and families and buying goods which increases our economy,” White said.

Currently rent is high, but White said it has the potential to lower next year from the increase of approximately 1,000 beds for college students.

“That means we will have more places to rent, housing prices are going to go down just a little bit and rent is going to go down just a little bit,” White said.

Shannon Hawkins of Boone’s Advanced Realty Property said the average rent of an apartment within walking distance of Appalachian’s campus is between $700 and $800, while the average rent for an apartment that requires commuting to campus is between $700 and $650.

However, she said she agrees rent should go down next year, specifically in apartments that require commuting.

Matt Wilcox who works with Highland Woods Apartments said they are expecting rent to stay the same because they are completely full this year.

Story: STEPHANIE SANSOUCY, Intern News Reporter