GILFORD – If you're in the market for a million-dollar home on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, now's the time to buy.

On the big lake, there are 139 listings for homes with water frontage. About 50 are being offered for sale at $1 million or more, according to the multiple listings service for real estate agents.

There were 77 lake-front homes sold last year, with a median price of $990,000.

At the rate lake homes are selling now, it would take two years to sell off the current inventory, compared with the state average of 16 months to sell more typical New Hampshire homes, said real estate analyst Russ Thibeault of Laconia.

"I think the market for multimillion-dollar homes is softer than those for primary homes right now," said Thibeault, of Applied Economic Research Associates.

In the past 30 years, the lake has gone through a major transformation, with few small cottages left, Thibeault said.

Many of the houses now for sale replaced small camps that were torn down to make "McMansions," Thibeault said.

"These are not locals who are buying anymore. They are East Coasters who have done very, very well," and the lake has become out of reach for the middle-class New Hampshire family, he said.

Thibeault said the times have changed from the days in the 1970s when a plumber from Laconia could sock away enough to get a little camp by the shore of the lake. "Now, even the doctors are having a hard time," he said.

Waterfront land alone in many cases has more value than the building on it, Thibeault said.

A recent appraisal was requested for a seller who wanted to know what the property would be worth with or without the house. The 1.5 acres on Lake Winnipesaukee came back at a value of $2.5 million, with or without the building, Thibeault said.

Denise Williams of Maxfield Real Estate in Wolfeboro said all markets are soft now.

Her recent experience has been the opposite of the trend, with more sales of lake-front homes than of more typical properties.

One of the few lake-front homes under agreement is her listing. It is considered a "tear down" for $1.5 million, meaning a buyer would knock it down and replace it with something new.

The 1,800-square-foot structure, built in the 1900s on Gould Road, is not what the buyers of such valuable land want anymore.

"They want much more substantial homes they can access year-round, with a value befitting the property they sit on," Williams said.

Michele Fausnacht, an agent with RE/MAX Excellence in Moultonborough, said that while lake-front sales are down, the values are not going down.

And the inventory is likely to go up in the next few weeks.

This is the time of year, she said, when property owners are coming in to list their lake-front properties for the spring.

"Those interested in selling are coming in because that early market is a good time," she said. "I think this market is not the market that is being hit as hard by the economy. ... The lake-fronts are going to hold their value."

There are at least 13 properties listed for sale on Governor's Island in Gilford.

One example of the tear-down phenomenon is a home for sale for $12 million. It has 11,100 square feet of living space on 3 acres.

In 1995, Gilford records show, the property had two buildings on it. One was a 1,968-square-foot cottage with a separate, 698-square-foot out building, according to Gilford tax records.

The property now for sale has a spa, a theater and a computerized golf room and children's wing in addition to the traditional dock area. Taxes in 2007 were about $32,000 a year.

Marc Bourgeois, owner of MB Tractor in Tilton, said the property belongs to his father, who wants to downsize.

Bourgeois said his father understands that he does not have the only house for sale on Winnipesaukee. "He's in no hurry. If it sells in two, three years, fine."

Bourgeois himself has a larger property on the island that is his residence. He said he pays $76,000 a year in taxes.

Bourgeois said that when he bought his home on Governor's Island, there was only an 8,000-square-foot house on the property.

He estimates his house is about 20,000 square feet now.

But with recently enacted shoreland protections, it is hard for property owners to do as much with raw land, he said.

The market for Winnipesaukee has changed dramatically in 20 years, he said. Now it is an international market.

"If they want a home on Winnipesaukee in pristine New Hampshire, in the $10 (million) to 20 million range, the guy is from England or somewhere, and he's got a couple of other homes," he said.