Updated over 3 years ago on . Most recent reply
Real Estate Market in Boone NC
To The Mountains!
Boone is a lovely little college town situated in the Mountains on NC, sporting a population of just under 20,000 people and employing 8.45k people.
Boone's annual population growth rate is sitting around 1.01% which is solid, 1.11% growth since the 2020 Consensus. Persons over 65 account for 5% of the population. Median age of 21, 13.3 min average commute to work, and around 500 veterans locally.
Boone is currently planning to go through a massive infrastructure reboot. Mainly focusing on the Howard Street Project- old outdated water lines - complete upgrade and the Deck Hill Water Tank, and additionally work on the Boone Municipal Complex. A new park is being planned behind Town Hall in Seven Devils, and a large push for AppalCart to get affordable and easy local transportation even more on the forefront for local residents.
Boone sports a great nightlife, with APP State largely making the basis of this town. A massive student population creates a large need for student housing, STRs, cheap transportation, and food.
Let's talk crime, then numbers. Boone sits at a 39 out 100 on the crime index (with 100 being the safest), Which is a very agreeable number. Violent crime is not an issue, with your chances of being a Victim in Boone as 1 in 830 vs 1 in 235 for the rest of the state. Property crime is 1 in 77 in Boone vs 1 in 44 in NC overall.
The median home value is $272,000 median sale price is at $497,000. Average DOM is 63, with an average of -2.1% under list price.
About a 23.4% owner occupied ratio, 67% MFH & 30% sfh. Poverty rate is 55.3%, there is a massive need for affordable housing in this market. It has been addressed by local government as a crucial need in the area as well. Affordable rentals in MFH are needed for students.
Surrounding areas of Boone like Banner Elk, Seven Devils, and Blowing Rock make great vacation areas and are frequented by tourists, including many in state. There's not many places to Ski or Snowboard in NC that are close to you if you grew up in the Northern Mid to East portion of NC. A family trip or weekend getaway with some friends is not uncommon in those areas, making AirBnBs all the more viable. Not an insane amount of inventory as we are looking at a couple towns with populations of 1,000 or less like Sugar Mtn area with a population of 500.
Unfortunately Boone is not a major area of NC and as a result, not a lot of news is pouring out of it, and not a lot to talk about either. I attempted to find numbers on tourism and travel, only able to find a vague article suggesting it was increasing. I think Boone is something to keep an open mind to if you are in the game for MFH and Student Rentals. ~18,000 Students enrolled in Fall of 2022 for in person classes, so the need will remain, as it has so far; and continue to push Boone forward.
As always looking for questions, comments, concerns, and any feedback. It's impossible to know everything about a market, so any value add information is expressly desired, and I appreciate it! I'm looking to connect with more people on here, so please reach out!
For more reading and sources:
https://www.appstate.edu/about...
https://www.redfin.com/city/18...
https://www.realtor.com/reales...
https://www.neighborhoodscout....
https://worldpopulationreview....
https://www.census.gov/quickfa...
https://censusreporter.org/pro...
https://www.wataugademocrat.co...