TAMPA - Seventy-eight days. It's the average time Tampa area homeowners wait to sell their homes now.

It should be no surprise then that sales of existing homes locally fell 35 percent in 2006 after the hot real estate market a year before.

It's certainly not unexpected for the Florida Association of Realtors, which said 34,322 homes sold last year, down from 53,183 in 2005, when homes took as few as 30 days to sell.

But real estate experts offer perspective.

Although this sounds bad, the market actually is returning to what it looked like in 2003, when 30,544 homes sold. That was before the red-hot markets of 2004 and 2005.

Even in 2004, homes took 90 days to sell in some slow months, said Carol Austin, chief executive officer of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors.

"Those years were outstanding, but 2003 is still the third-best year on record," said Carlos Fuentes, president of the local association. "And I think the market has showed signs of recovery since November."

Sellers are frustrated that they're not getting the price appreciation some of their neighbors have seen, but prices are holding steady.

The Tampa Bay area's median sales price for 2006 is $229,100. That's a 14 percent increase compared with 2005.

December's numbers, also released Thursday, showed a 41 percent drop in the number of homes sold, compared with December 2005, and a 3 percent rise in median price to $230,800.

Some real estate agents, such as Brenda Wade of Signature Realty in Brandon, said she's seeing homeowners lower asking prices.

"Homes are down in value, I think," Wade said.

For example, Wade said, a home in the FishHawk Ranch neighborhood that went on the market in December 2005 listed at $850,000. The seller has gone through several real estate agents and lowered the price to $694,000. It's still on the market.

Another home in the Brandon area was listed for $745,000 in January 2006, she said. The price dropped to $699,000 in June and then to $679,000 in August. In late December, one of Wade's clients purchased the home for $575,000.

"It's a good market for buyers," she said, "and I think this year will be a good year because sellers are motivated and getting realistic. They see the for sale signs in their neighborhoods."

Mark Vitner, an economist with Wachovia, said the market is about halfway through its down cycle.

"Some are saying it's bottomed out," he said, "but I think it's too soon to think that."

In terms of new construction in Tampa, he said, builders are reporting a 60 percent drop in new home starts compared with last year.

"I think this will start to change in mid-July," he said.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area saw a 34 percent drop in the number of homes sold and was one of six Florida markets with price declines. The area's median sales price slid 5 percent to $305,200.

The National Association of Realtors released year-end data Thursday, too. Sales of existing homes fell in December, closing out a year in which demand for homes slumped by the largest amount in 17 years.

Sales fell nationwide 8.4 percent, the biggest annual decline since 1989, when sales fell by 14.8 percent.

The sales figure underscored the sharp contraction that is going on in the once high-flying housing market, which before last year set sales records for five straight years.

The median price of an existing home nationwide sold in 2006 managed to rise 1.1 percent to $222,000. That was far below the double-digit gains during the boom years. The median home price had risen by 12.4 percent in 2005.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.