WATERVILLE -- The economy has been as tough on real-estate agents as the rest of the state's workforce.

Maine's Realtors sold 22 percent fewer existing single-family homes in November, compared to the same month a year ago, according to the Maine Real Estate Information System Inc., which tabulates Realtors' sales.

Even so, they say they haven't seen the catastrophic downward spiral that has shut down many businesses.

With mortgage rates dipping to 5 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and 4.5 percent for a 15-year mortgage, two Waterville area companies expect to weather what they call a transitory decline in a cyclical industry.

Michael Byrne, owner and president of Century 21 Surette Real Estate in Waterville, has a 30-year career in the business and has owned the agency since 1986. There are 20 agents at his firm.

"Fortunately, we didn't have the wild speculation other parts of the country did," he said. "We had more of a gentle landing, not that it didn't hurt a little bit."

Other parts of the country, Byrne said, had such meteoric rises in property value, with speculators out for a quick profit, that central Maine's real-estate market setback was modest by comparison.

"Area banks have probably tightened up a little bit, but if you have decent credit and a good job, you'll probably get a loan," he said. "We didn't go up 30 or 40 percent in our market like Florida and Arizona did, but when those markets crashed, they crashed."

Don Plourde, owner of Coldwell Banker Plourde Real Estate, said his current listings, including 115 residential properties, 22 multi-family properties, 47 land parcels, and 20 commercial properties, is a strong sign that the market is rebounding, although the demand for second homes might not be as great this time of year. Plourde said he hasn't seen a lot of the turmoil that he's observed in the national market. Many of his customers contact the agency through e-mail, and he's seen an increase in requests for information.

"We had a better November this year than last, and we've had a much better December, also," Plourde said.

Smaller Maine banks weren't floundering as were many of the out-of-state mortgage companies, banks, and real estate agencies, he said. Because he's been in the business 24 years and has owned his company since 1989, he has experienced the cyclical nature of the market.

"The conservative lending habits of local banks kept the central Maine market stable," he said. "But we definitely saw folks who got in over their heads with the amount of debt they thought they could handle."

Much of the area's market depends on weather and the season.

"The amount of snow slowed everyone down in the first part of 2008," he said. "We're seeing 2008 as a better year than 2007, but inventory levels can go down when people don't put their houses on the market if they're afraid they won't get a good price."

Maine Real Estate Information System Inc. is a subsidiary of the Maine Association of Realtors.

The statewide Multiple Listing Service has more than 5,200 licensees inputting active and sold property listing data.

They provide statistics monthly from more than 5,200 licensees on active and sold property listing data.

The housing statistics for November, 2008 (www.mainelistings.com/PressReleases/2008/11.pdf), reported an average single-family home in central Maine cost $135,000, compared to a $225,000 average in southern Maine.

Aroostook County had the steepest decline in units sold last year, with a 24.35 percent slump, but the average price of homes increased from $88, 500 to $99,900.

Washington County experienced a different type of decline, with an 80 percent increase in home sales but an average home price falling from $193,000 to $49,500.