In one home on the Street of Dreams, the wow came from the heated bathroom floor tiles. "Heated floor? Oh, ho-ho," the visitor swooned.

In the house next door, the zing was in the pullout kitchen racks hidden as columns alongside the oven.

"Ah," a woman stopped as she marveled at the surprise. "I love that."

Omaha's annual Street of Dreams tour is back for its 25th year of showcasing the grandeur and extravagance of Omaha's high-end housing market.

Only this year, builders are putting on their showcase of newly built homes at a time when thrift trumps luxury for many people because of the trying economy.

In adjusting to the times, Omaha's Street of Dreams was no different: The number of mansions on the tour was trimmed and the event was delayed until September after home builders encountered tighter financing from banks.

But just pulling off this year's event is an accomplishment. The economy has forced some other cities to cancel their tours of specially-built luxury homes or shift the showcase to mansions and condos already on the market.

In Omaha, the housing market is making a statement about its resiliency at the Silverleaf Estates development near 192nd Street and West Dodge Road.

Though unmistakably grand, the six dreamy homes reflect their own degree of cost-consciousness.

Builders say they are focusing less on size and more on design details: the hidden kitchen rack; the outdoor living space with a fireplace and high-def big-screen TV; the walk-in shower with rain showerheads; the heated shower seat. Builders are emphasizing energy-efficiency in recognition that huge homes pinch even rich people's utility budgets.

This year, the organizers hold great hope that Street of Dreams will help boost a high-end housing construction market that, according to one real estate executive, had ground to a halt. As positive economic news continues to build, luxury housing already is showing signs of a comeback.

"People, they know there's an opportunity out there," said Mike Riedmann, president of residential sales for NP Dodge Real Estate.

Street of Dreams drew about 5,000 visitors for its opening weekend last Saturday and Sunday. The makeshift parking lot was full in the late afternoon on Tuesday.

The event will run through Sept. 27, and organizers hope to reach their typical attendance of 25,000 to 35,000 people.

This Saturday, the show - and the homes' many HD TVs - will compete for attention with Nebraska football. That's a trade-off for rescheduling the event from July because of last fall's collapse of the financial and lending markets.

The collapse came at a time when builders were lining up financing and normally would break ground.

The tour went forward with fewer homes than usual - six instead of the eight last year. And this time, none of the homes is priced above $1 million.

Still, some other cities couldn't even get their show together. Portland, Ore., moved its tour to existing condos. Denver moved its show to mansions already on the market. Seattle canceled.

"You've got to really give it to these guys," said Barbara J. Byrd, executive vice president of the Metro Omaha Builders Association, which puts on the event.

As with all segments of the local housing market, the high end has seen its lows. Riedmann figures the slowdown started in summer 2006, when mortgage lenders started tightening lending requirements. Into this summer, Riedmann said, the high-end construction market "has almost been nonexistent."

According to statistics from the Omaha Area Board of Realtors, the metro area in 2006 saw 20 homes sell at $1 million and above. Through August of this year, five $1 million-plus homes sold.

Said Byrd: "As grateful as we are to be in Omaha, it's been a struggle. It really has.

" But builders and other industry officials see recent signs of a rebound: more sales coming through their offices, more people considering their options and more leads drummed up on the Street of Dreams.

Deb Cizek, a high-end agent with Prudential Ambassador Real Estate of Omaha, said she has sold her two most expensive homes ever this year.

Cizek said activity has picked up as sellers became more realistic about home prices and accepted that they might lose money. But her message to sellers: "Wouldn't you rather be living in your dream home?"

"The buyers are out there for a deal," she said, "and these homes have been deals."

As the market picks up, it will return with a shift in behavior from buyers and builders shaped by the recession.

In the past, several builders said, many people went into a purchase with a price in mind and the attitude "Build me the biggest home possible." Now, high-end buyers will trade more design upgrades for less size.

"People still want the amenities," said John Greguska of Royal Development, one of the Street of Dreams builders. "But they want it smaller."

At L&L Custom Builders' featured home, Street of Dreams visitors will find maintenance-free vinyl siding that can stand up to a baseball bat. That would have been a Street of Dreams faux pas in years past, co-owner Eric Lakeman said, but now the feature reflects energy-efficiency.

In the home's study, you'll find a bookcase with a hidden door that leads to the master bath and walk-in closet. Overall, the house has 4,130 finished square feet, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 12-foot, archedtop double entry doors. The basement is unfinished.

Lakeman caught the attention of Deanne Caughey when he pulled out that hidden kitchen rack.

Caughey said she also liked that a laptop computer can be stashed behind its own mini garage door storage on the countertop.

In all, Caughey said she noticed a change from past Street of Dreams tours.

"We're not seeing such grand scale rooms to heat and air-condition," she said, "but we're seeing lots of punch in the details."

Contact the writer: 444-1128, jeff.robb@owh.com