BUTTE - Realtors like to say that their industry is hyper-local. Each neighborhood constitutes a different market.

But Montana is an awfully large state. So it makes sense that from border-to-border, contractors and real estate agents are singing many different tunes.

Many house hunters are eyeing smaller digs, with green features to reduce energy costs, and the more affordable monthly payments that come with smaller mortgages.

"We've found buyers are very aware of the national economic climate," said Tiffany Williams, executive officer of the Missoula Building Industry Association.

Across Montana, representatives from nearly every city say things are better in their towns than national statistics show.

"We need people to get their confidence back and not be as scared as they are," said Dennis Hardin, a commercial buyer's representative in Bozeman. "What you hear about Las Vegas and Los Angeles, we are so far removed from that it's not even the same league."

Still, there are drops nearly across the board in housing starts, home prices and sales.

Contractors and real estate agents are expecting a quiet fall and winter, but many, like John Harding of Great Falls, are "cautiously optimistic" that next spring may jumpstart the industry.

Kalispell

Swank Enterprises, based in Kalispell, builds some of the state's largest projects.

From a visitor's center at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, a $20 million high school in Browning, to a jail in Anaconda, Swank has had a hand in all of them.

But those big projects are drying up, and that has CEO Dean Swank nervous.

"There isn't any abundance - in fact there are practically no big jobs in this state - in the $20 million range," Swank said.

Those projects became scarcer last year and 2009 was even worse, Swank said. He thinks the next few building seasons will be similarly tough.

The changing economic times have forced Swank to widen its search for jobs.

"We are looking out of state more. In the last few years we haven't been active in the Washington and Idaho market, but we are looking that way more."

The slowdown, however, has had some positives.

Swank said his costs are down about 10 percent compared with what he was paying in 2006, because of less expensive equipment, cheaper subcontractor bids and more competition.

"The good side is that it has brought the price down," he said. "It's definitely cheaper to build now than it was a few years ago and will be again in a few years."

Billings

Billings is bucking the trend during the downturn.

Twyla Best, president of the Billings Association of Realtors, said 2009 home sales are up 47 percent compared to last year.

"It's amazing," Best said. "Things are going very well, especially in the residential market. We are really happy things are the way they are."

Billings is a different kind of city than Missoula, Bozeman and Kalispell, Best said, where real estate markets have stagnated.

"We are a working community," she said. "We don't have a lot of second home owners here, not a lot of retirees from out of area. Everyone who lives here works here."

That means Billings didn't explode a few years ago, but its growth remained stable during the boom and continues to grow.

"It's kind of like the story of the tortoise and the hare," said Greg McCall, owner of McCall Development.

McCall's Josephine Crossing has been one of the state's best-selling projects over the last two years.

That's because that while the neighborhood is not specifically made for first-time homebuyers, it has the flexibility to adapt to each buyer's financial situation.

He has sold 30 homes in the development this year, with 17 of those utilizing the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

"Without that, we would be in trouble," McCall said.

The contractor has even shrunk the subdivision's smallest floor plan, and now offers a $150,000 home, down from what originally was designed in the $180,000 range.

"That's where the market is going," McCall said. "People don't want those huge homes like they did during the boom, they want something more economical and greener."

Best, McCall and other real estate agents and builders said next building season could see a slight contraction, but many are betting on the future growth in Billings.

"The first 100,000 people are the hard part," Best said. "After that, the next 100,000 comes lickety-split."

Bozeman

In 2007, Bozeman hit the peak of six years of unprecedented growth.

More than $158 million of new construction was built that year, more than doubling the amount put up just three years prior.

But in 2008 it began to slow, and in 2009 new construction nearly halted.

Shawn Cote, a contractor and executive director of the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association, said housing starts are down 35 percent in Gallatin County and 55 percent in the city of Bozeman this year compared to 2008.

"And last year was down, too," he said. "So it's a very significant decline."

Much of the worry for Bozeman contractors is the glut of inventory on the market.

Dennis Hardin is president of Hardin and Co. LTD, which has operated in the commercial real estate sector in Bozeman for more than 30 years.

He said the decline in Bozeman is undeniable, but that the city is still operating above the national average.

"The problems that hit here are national problems," he said. "It didn't have anything to do with us."

But it became a problem locally because of Bozeman's new economy, which had traditionally been based in agriculture and Montana State University but had begun to depend more on national chain stores to spur its growth.

"Those stores aren't expanding like they were," Hardin said.

And although sales have slumped, prices haven't.

"There is this pent up supply, but so far we haven't seen values decrease whatsoever."

But he said the city's long term prospects are bright. In mid-September, an average of 50 homes sold each week in Gallatin County, and the market remains one of the state's fastest growing.

"The (local) market is reacting appropriately to the national and international economy," Hardin said, "But it is doing better, and this specific market is still pretty attractive to people and businesses of many different stripes."

Butte

Things were a bit slow until a hail storm hit Butte on Aug. 6, breaking windows and damaging roofs across the city.

"The hail storm was quite an economic stimulus package for Butte," said Paul Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Construction.

"We've been busy as can be since then," said Kevin Keene, a union contractor who owns K & K Roofing.

His crew has worked lined up into next year, he said, and the company's big project this year is the county water treatment plant.

"Things are going well," Keene said. "We are certainly staying busy."

Cunningham, 53, is one contractor who changed his business to fit the recession and has reaped the benefits.

"I had the best year of my life," he said. "The remodel business has been fantastic for me."

Cunningham had been building new homes in Bozeman for eight years, but decided to get out of high-end speculative homes and take on more remodeling jobs.

"The spec homes in the price range I was building aren't selling anymore," he said. "But people are putting money back into their own homes - kitchens and baths mostly."

Cunningham said many of his customers are baby-boomers, whose houses are mostly paid for, and still have money to invest in home improvements.

"Butte has been chugging along, never over the top but chugging along," he said. "Everything I'm studying said if I can keep my head above water until 2011, I'll be in good shape. Maybe this economy weeded out the wannabe contractors, and the good guys made it through."

Missoula

Tiffany Williams is the executive officer of the Missoula Building Industry Association and her husband is a local contractor.

But the couple hasn't bought land and erected their dream home.

"We were looking seriously this summer, but decided to wait and see if the economy got any better," Tiffany Williams said.

Because of her job, Williams knows she's not the only one delaying big decisions. This fall, Williams helped organize Missoula's parade of homes and remodeling tour, and saw attendance down dramatically from previous years.

"From our perspective, it's an indication that people are not dreaming big anymore," she said. "And buying a new home is not the priority it once was."

Missoula's building inspection division noted that year-to-date construction has plummeted this year in both industries. By the end of August 2008, 136 single-family homes were built with a valuation of over $13 million. In that same timeframe this year, only 84 such residences were built valuing $7.3 million.

According to the city's statistics, commercial building has decreased even more. In 2008, more than $16 million worth of new commercial construction was done, but this year it is barely anything: $727, 936.

Don Verrue, building official with the city of Missoula, said the large decline this year is due to the economy and tougher lending standards.

"We have seen a decline over the last couple of years, but it was September of 2008 that it really began to hit, especially in residential building."

The city permitting office has been sliced by a third, but Verrue said they will keep plugging along.

"We are hoping and praying it is going to be changing this spring, but most of use feel that this is going to be a difficult winter," said Verrue.

North-central Montana

Jim Zarling builds big, expensive, custom homes - exactly the kind that aren't supposed to be selling in this market.

But the Great Falls contractor is busy thanks to an advertising blitz and word of mouth.

"You've got to keep your name out there in times like this," Zarling said. "You've got to let people know you are still building houses." There are companies still building both in Great Falls and Helena, but not as many as last year.

"We have an advantage now," said John Harding, a Great Falls subcontractor whose business has been around for more than two decades.

"We know how to recognize (changes in the economy) and how to prepare for it. It sure would be hard, if not impossible to start in this kind of economy."

Jay Heslep, a contractor in Helena, said his outlook is much different now than it was last year.

"I have work now," he said. "Really, it's been several years since it has been this good."

Heslep, who serves on the advisory board of University of Montana's construction technology program, said that he has focused his business more toward remodels and presold homes.