Last week, the Enquirer took a look at the new housing market in the Hartselle area.

The numbers are showing a vast improvement from a year ago. Through the first six months, Hartselle issued nearly as many permits as it did during the entire year of 2012.

It’s vast improvement over the last few years. Since 2007, we’ve averaged around 20 homes per year being built with one year having just only 11 homes being built. That’s not even one home per month of new construction.

Of course, things are not where they were before the housing bubble burst in 2007.

Before then, Hartselle was averaging at least 80 new home constructions per year.

Many places around the country have not yet rebounded from the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009. It will take a long time before we get back to those 2006 and 2007 levels we saw then.

The economy is slowly improving since tough years of 2008 and 2009. Housing has steadily picked up over the last couple of years.

However, Hartselle has one big advantage over neighboring areas – its school system including the new Hartselle High School.

That means families will want to come to Hartselle to have their children in our school system, creating a demand for housing here.

“The economy is picking up, but the new high school has really helped the housing market here,” said Rajane Hampton with Four Oaks United Country Realty. “Right now, existing homes are selling within days and rental homes are being leased within hours.”

Since the demand for existing housing is so high, we need more new construction to meet those demands. That may be one of the main reasons why we’re seeing new homes pick up.

It’s impossible to say just how long this boom will happen, but as Hartselle continues to raise the bar in education, more want to be here.

Brent Maze is the managing editor of the Hartselle Enquirer.