"If it could be all brick, that would be better,” said Simonds.

Simonds' realtor, Jorge Reyes , said many of the thousands of other military men and women who'll soon be transferred to Fort Bliss in the coming years will want a good deal.

"The armed services, the soldiers are a whole lot more educated and they're turning to home ownership instead of renting. In El Paso, the military boom and the surging local economy are keeping our housing market afloat,” said Reyes.

How good does El Paso have it compared to slumping markets like San Francisco and Washington D.C. Sharon Tay can't believe she's about to lose money on a Washington, D.C., home she bought four years ago.

"That's when the market was really high. We bought it at a bad time and sold it at a bad time," said Tay

The average value for a U.S. home is forecast to drop 3 percent by the end of the year, and another 2 percent next year, but not in El Paso.

"The job growth in Texas has been the strongest in the country. So the home prices in the Texas market is rising at a double-digit pace. So it's one of the best markets in the country. Texas homeowners should be smiling," said Lawrence Yun from National Association of Realtors.

The national association of realtors said the value of the average El Paso area home in Texas and New Mexico has soared from $94,000 in 2004 to $127,000 in 2007.

The better news: realty analysts said the average home will be worth 5 percent, or $6,000 more next year, and another 4 percent, another $5,000 more, in 2008, but still not all is perfect. These values could be higher if not for the sudden surge of foreclosures nationwide.

Homeowners who years ago took out risky low-interest loans have discovered those loan interest rates eventually rise. They can no longer make the payments. Banks foreclose the homes, put them up for sale, accept very low offers, and lower the home values for everyone else.

The president's right-hand man for housing said foreclosures are becoming a national problem.

For more information about El Paso trends and prices and tips for homeowners log onto http://texasrealtors.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=community and http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr07-105.cfm .