Remember the days a few years ago when homes sold within 24 hours, buyers bid above the listing price and home construction was going strong? Those days are gone.

Through November 2008, the municipality of Anchorage has issued 220 building permits, down from 300 in 2007, according to the Anchorage Home Builders Association.

That is down considerably from 2002, when the municipality issued 924 permits.

Although Alaska is faring better than other parts of the country, industry experts say the national recession and lower oil prices are impacting businesses related to real estate, home remodeling and home building.

"One of the challenges we are faced with right now is that banks are not loaning short-term construction money," said Vicki Portwood, Anchorage Home Builders' executive officer. "Because of that builders are not building and it's not only that they are not building in Alaska, they are not building nationwide."

The association is a member-driven organization representing the home building and remodeling industry. Members include well-known businesses such as Spinell Homes, Taylored Restoration and Spenard Builders Supply.

Builders need short-term construction loans to complete housing projects and ultimately sell them. Without the loans, builders are stuck in a holding pattern and have already laid off employees to survive what is shaping up to be a lean season, Portwood said.

"What our builders have done is they have tightened their belts. They are not out building because they can't get speculative monies, so they've had to take their existing company size and ratchet it down, waiting for the market to come back," she said.

Portwood said her organization is taking steps to jumpstart activity. Among other things, the association has opened a dialogue with the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. to possibly offer short-term construction loans to builders.

"The consumer is standing back here and waiting to see what is going to happen and we need to get them to have confidence to get back into the market," she said.

The challenges could impact the youngest members of the workforce. The Anchorage School District Job Club prepares high school seniors to work in construction-related trades. Program leaders are primed to place around 100 students in April, up from 71 students last year.

"I think everyone expects a slowdown from last year," said career guide Gary Abernathy. "There was a lot of construction going on. It has slowed down somewhat. It is going to make it more difficult to place more students."

Other parts of the industry also are feeling the pinch. Home remodels were going strong for Taylored Restoration during the height of the real estate boom a few years ago, said the company's General Manager Lisa Brest. Remodels were in high demand because lower interest rates were an incentive for owners to make improvements, she said. That's not the case anymore.

"The economic climate is a little spooky right now," she said. "I think people are being a little more cautious about putting a lot of money into their homes."

Brest said Taylored Restoration has seen a tremendous drop in remodeling contracts, but adds the company offers other services ranging from fire restoration to carpet cleaning and is diverse enough to compensate for the drop in remodeling business.

Commercial construction is also slow, according to Jeff Thon, with Jack White Commercial Real Estate. Specifically, Anchorage's retail industry is down due to overbuilding, he said.

"Probably as soft as I've seen it in 30 years," Thon said. "You look at everything that's done on the east side of town, couple new little strip centers in other areas, it is just plain overbuilding. What has been added to our marketplace the last 18 months has given us a huge surplus."

On the flip side, Thon said office and industrial markets in Anchorage are still strong. Overall vacancy rates are down while demand for Class A space is up. Still, Thon said potential tenants have recently put plans on hold due to the lower price of oil and increased credit restrictions from banks.

Despite the challenges, leaders throughout the industry say even though business is slower, there is confidence Alaska will pull through.

Art Clark, president of the Alaska Association of Realtors, said despite lower interest rates, consumers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen with the economy, yet the state's real estate industry remains strong and hopeful.

"As far as the industry goes, I think our realtors are hanging in there pretty well," he said. "People are going to start buying because I think the vacancy rate in town is real low for rental properties. If the economic recession stays the way it is in the Lower 48 and we continue to have a reasonable number of jobs, we may get an influx of people."

Portwood, with the Anchorage Home Builders, recently returned from a national conference in Las Vegas. Based on information there, she anticipates Alaska's home building market will turn around in late 2009, while other parts of the nation may have to hold out until 2013.

"There are horror stories out there of high foreclosure rates, which we don't have here in Alaska," she said. "We are very fortunate that our market wasn't hit nearly as hard as other areas."