enlarge Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Trevor and Wendy Hamel stand outside their new house in Limington Saturday. They would never have been able to afford a home like this two years ago, Wendy Hamel says, but thanks to the drop in prices, “we found a deal.”

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FALLING BEHIND: MAINERS COPE WITH THE SLOWDOWN

SUNDAY: Inflation in basic commodities of life -- especially food and fuel – is squeezing many family budgets dry.

MONDAY: Mainers are falling behind on paying their car loan, utility and credit card bills.

TUESDAY: Foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates have hit record levels in Maine.

WEDNESDAY: Small businesses are finding that Mainers don't think this is the time to be opening their wallets, and that has implications for the broader economy.

TODAY: Some individuals and groups are finding a silver lining in the slowdown.

FRIDAY: The next few months – as Maine enters its crucial summer tourism season – will reveal just how big an impact the economic climate has on jobs and overall economic activity.

About a 45-minute drive from Portland, on a quiet tree-lined road in Limington, sits one of the hidden bright spots in this gloomy economy.

It's a two-bedroom saltbox home, with hardwood floors and a big backyard. Just the kind of place Wendy and Trevor Hamel were looking for to start a family. Just the kind of place they could never quite afford.

"Two years ago I would say no, this wouldn't have been possible," Wendy Hamel said. She works in the service department for a car dealer. He's a commercial truck driver.

Thanks to a drop in prices, favorable interest rates and a glut of houses to pick from, the Hamels were able to buy the house of their dreams. Their offer was accepted a few weeks ago, and they will be moving in soon.

"We found a deal," Wendy Hamel said.

For buyers who felt shut out by the booming housing market for most of this decade – and who can still get loans in this time of tightening credit requirements – the downturn in the economy has presented new opportunities.

That's one bright spot to be found in the slowdown. And, despite the string of bad news making headlines recently, there are others.

A weak U.S. dollar is helping Maine exporters and tourism businesses that have Canadian customers. High oil prices have fueled growth in so-called "green collar jobs," such as environmental lawyers, solar-panel installers and architects who design super-efficient homes.

"Those jobs aren't going away. They're expanding," said Amanda Sears, chair of the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, an umbrella group for several companies and nonprofit organizations.

But the economic slowdown has proven particularly helpful to those who have been trying to break into the housing market.

"For buyers, there are definitely opportunities," said Sandy Bonney, a broker with Gammon Realty Group in Westbrook. Bonney found the home in Limington for the Hamel family, and she has five other buyers who are looking for deals that would not have been available several years ago.

She acknowledged that the flattening of prices and the slowdown in sales across the state present hardships for some people who already own homes. Still, she said, the market was bound to cool down at some point.

"A few years ago, you could just stick a sign in the yard," Bonney said. Now, buyers have the luxury of looking at dozens of homes, and seeking a bargain. Buyers are more conscientious these days, she said, meaning that even if they are approved for a $200,000 property, they are looking to buy well below that.

In Maine, home sales for the three-month period ending in February were down 24 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Median prices for that period were down about 2 percent, to $188,000, according to the Maine Real Estate Information System.

Wendy Hamel said she and her husband have been living with relatives in Waterboro for the past few years, paying off bills and saving to buy a home. They hope to have children in the next few years.

"We got to where we wanted to be," Hamel said. "The prices have come down. The interest rates are a lot better now. We took our time to make sure we found exactly what we were looking for."

Other market forces have been helping John Cloutier's business. Cloutier, the owner and president of the Beachwood Motel in Old Orchard Beach, has seen a return of Canadian guests.

Back in the 1950s, when Cloutier's grandparents built the motel, more than half of their summer guests came down from Canada. That tailed off in the 1980s, and Old Orchard Beach business owners refocused on U.S. clients, most often families from other New England states.

As the Canadian dollar has gotten stronger, though, Cloutier has seen a renaissance.

"Five years ago, Canadians probably made up 15 percent of the clientele. Now it's back up to 30 percent," he said.

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