GILLETTE - In the midst of a looming national recession, with foreclosures at a record high and real estate markets slumping, most Americans are more than a little worried.

But those national trends are far from being replicated in Wyoming - especially in Gillette, where the economy remains strong and the real estate market continues to be steady.

Area real estate agents report that while the winter months were a bit slow for the booming community, things are beginning to pick up again.

"I still believe we're in an active market - a great market compared to the rest of the country," said Stacy Peterson, an agent with Re/Max.

While communities across the country report homes sitting on the market for months, and even years, Peterson said homes average 90 to 120 days in the Gillette market. Although things are a bit slower now compared to the last two years, when homes were sold within days, Gillette's market is still strong.

"We have a strong economy here, and I don't see that changing in the next 10 years," Peterson said. "We have a lot of construction and growing going on here. With new construction and what's going on in the community, we're going to have an active market."

About a year ago, Kristene Partlow and her husband, Brian, were anxious to take advantage of the equity earned in their Gillette home to build a new house. So in April 2007, they listed their Sutherland home with Peterson and began construction on a new home in RC Ranch.

"The fact that we could make enough money on our home that we could build this time was great," Kristene said.

Even though the market was stable, it was August before the Partlows sold their house. More competition with new construction and more existing homes on the market didn't bring buyers flocking in as they had in previous years when there were few homes to choose from on the market.

"It got pretty scary when we went from April all the way to August before we sold our home," Kristene said. "The idea of possibly paying two mortgages was scary."

Kristene credits the eventual sale of her home to an aggressive Realtor with plenty of experience. Now the Partlows are enjoying their new home and the great economy that has their storage business booming.

"It's a booming economy for a lot of people," Kristene said.

With summer just around the corner, the traditionally active real estate season is just getting warmed up. As construction continues at Cam-Plex's new multi-event center, and new projects get under way at Campbell County Parks and Recreation and Gillette College - as well as several other public and private expansions - signs of Gillette's booming economy are evident.

"Economic wise, we're strong and we're going to stay strong," said Josh McGrath, president of the Gillette Board of Realtors and agent with ERA Boardwalk.

Now that spring has finally arrived, McGrath expects the market to pick up even more and anticipates a busy summer for the real estate sector.

"We had such a long winter, it took people a while to get out and about," McGrath said.

Now with more homes on the market compared to the last couple of years, buyers have more to choose from, and sellers have to keep homes at a competitive price. That already is evident in the average home sale prices for 2008.

Since the first of the year, 182 properties have been sold with an average price of $229,340. Last year during the same time frame, 210 properties were sold for an average price of $232,840. The slight drop in price and fewer home sales are being attributed to a longer winter and a slowdown in sales of homes in the upper price ranges.

"I think it will be interesting to see what the next two months will bring because of the long winter we've had," said Steve Laakso, an ERA Boardwalk Realtor.

Houses in the $160,000 to $200,000 range are still selling quickly, and homes listed for less than $250,000 are moving fairly well also, Laakso said. During the last few months, homes priced above $250,000 are moving quite a bit slower because of the high number of existing homes and newly built homes coming onto the market.

"There's more competition," Laakso said. "Buyers have more options right now."

More options and competition isn't such a bad thing, according to Re/Max's Peterson.

"I think a true market like this is good," Peterson said. "We need to be in a normal market."

With more stability in the market and leveling-off prices, people moving into the community are more likely to find homes they like in their price ranges, Peterson said. There are now about 390 homes on the market, which gives people about 45 to 50 homes in each price range to consider.

"It's a great market for buyers, and interest rates are lower," Peterson said. "Sellers are looking to help with closing costs and incentives to sell their home faster. We're in a market where sellers are real now."