In the last few years Kitsap County’s new housing market never hit a lull. The drop in home construction had already happened.

Art Castle, executive vice president of the Kitsap County Home Builder’s Association, said when military budgets declined and military and public jobs shipped out in the early 90s it left empty homes. And not much need for new home construction.

The Sept. 11 attacks “added a new level of uncertainty” to life, but the housing market did not dip, Castle said. He’s optimistic about the next 12 months because of the trend of the past few years and new transportation plans passed by the Legislature.

“We’ll see a small increase over the year before, which was an increase over the year before that,” Castle said.

That matches county population growth, which is slow but steady, at about 1 percent over the last seven years, Castle said.

What’s lacking and slowing the possibility of any “housing boom” are new jobs in Kitsap County.

“About half of new homes are for people who will commute out,” Castle said.

That need to ride the waves aboard a ferry or hit a highway explains why Central Kitsap lags behind the North and South Kitsap regions.

“People need to be close to those commuter lines,” he said. “It sounds simplistic, but it’s what’s happening.”

The passage of the bill to fund a second Tacoma Narrows Bridge and a broader regional package between King, Snohomish and Pierce counties will help spur people and companies to move to the Peninsula. With a yea vote in November, Castle said, Kitsap will be in a good position once again, even if bridge completion is a few years down the road.

“The passage of a transportation package will be a relief,” he said. “Knowing that it [the bridge] is coming is a psychological boost in itself.

“We’ll get more looks.”

That in turn will help the County diversify its employment base away from a reliance on public and military employees.

Until then, the 410 members of the builder’s association will be busy, Castle said. Unsurprisingly, Bainbridge Island has been a strong element of that work, with about 200 to 300 new homes a year.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot maybe, but we can rely on it,’ Castle said. “It’s a trend that will continue.”.