Home sales in Watertown, NY, have been slipping through the year, not unlike many areas across the country. With the number of home sales dropping, prices usually decline in turn. However, in this community that plays host to U.S. Army Base Fort Drum and its 10th Mountain Division, prices have continued to increase throughout the year, and have just slipped in the last month.

Trulia.com, a real estate tracking web site, has Watertown average home sales price this month at $130,600, about 9 percent higher than a year ago. Four bedroom home prices jumped 27 percent. Why the increase in prices? Thank the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, better known as BRAC. Through BRAC, bases realign their divisions and operations from one base to another. Ft. Drum is about to receive an additional 1,500 soldiers and their families in the next year.

As the largest employer in Northern New York, Ft. Drum soldiers contribute nearly $1 billion dollars to the economy through the payroll of more than 20,000 soldiers and employees.

In the last year, 20 year leases the base had executed with housing units throughout the area began to expire. The economic impact report from Ft. Drum states that the next level of housing for the soldiers will be the Mountain Community Homes will be the new home for soldiers and their families as the $343.5 million project starts opening its doors with new homes and communities in the base area. About 850 homes will be constructed through the project.

Contractors in the region benefited through the more than $300 million in military and base contracts that serve the region and keep pushing the economy upward and forward. And is the saying goes in real estate -- homes are where the jobs go at night.

Published: October 31, 2008

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Mr. Carr has covered real estate since 1989. He is the author of Real Estate Investing Made Simple. Got a personal real estate issue? Post your questions and comments at Anthony’s blog: commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com.