The scariest thing in the North Country economy? Your house.

The Watertown Daily Times is running a story today about home sales in St. Lawerence County, where median prices have dropped 14% and total sales have plummeted by nearly a quarter.

Conversations with realtors across the North Country suggest similar numbers, though the texture of the real estate meltdown differs from town to town.

So far, the property tax assessments for much of the region haven’t caught up.

Counties and school districts are still taxing our homes as if it’s early 2008, rather than early 2010.

But when re-evaluations are done, I’m guessing that local governments across the region are going to find that their taxable property has shriveled in overall value dramatically.

Second-home markets may prove to be the most volatile. Waterfront homes may (or may not) hold some of their ludicrously inflated value.

But the last few years before the bust, many back-lot homes were selling at premium prices to vacation-home buyers.

Are those houses still worth $200-400,000? It’s hard to imagine.

Which means that as communities prepare for far fewer dollars flowing from Albany, they’ll also have to adjust their tax collection locally.

If waterfront McMansions are no longer the cash cow, everyone else will have to get milked a little more when local governments work to balance their budgets.

Or there will have to be deep cuts. Either way, it’s a painful reality.

Of course, there are other side-effects of a lackluster real estate economy.

A lot of our people were earning their livings as home-builders, remodelers or care-takers. The demand for those services is far less bullish.

The slow turnover of houses also raises serious questions about big, next-generation projects, including the condo development in North Creek and the luxury home development proposed for Big Tupper.

What do you think? Is your house worth what it was a few years ago? Looking for bargains? Comment below.