On Wednesday, President George Bush raised the specter that the Wall Street crisis could lead to “financial panic and a distressing scenario,” in which consumer credit would be hard to find.

“Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college,” Bush said in a speech that pushed for a bailout plan.

So far, though, Mainers have largely been able to obtain the financing they need to lead their everyday lives, according to local financial officials and others. Conservative lending practices have kept finance institutions here well capitalized.

Maine lenders didn’t get heavily involved in subprime mortgages and risky real estate packages, said Jon Paradise, the government and public affairs manager for the Maine Credit Union League. “The great thing in Maine is that financial institutions have been very responsible lenders,” Paradise said.

Chris Pinkham, president of the Maine Association of Community Banks, agreed.

“The credit standards that the banks have adhered to all along are in place,” Pinkham said. “For people who have reasonably good credit and managed their finances, those avenues are available.” In Maine, Pinkham said there is a sense that the national financial crisis of the last few weeks has “pushed a lot of people to the sidelines” and slowed real estate market activity. But it’s not because buyers can’t get credit, he said.

“It’s the psychology of it. They’re wondering, ‘Is it going to be cheaper later?’ Or some people don’t want to think about selling their house now, or they are just saying they don’t want anything new right now. We’re not sure what it is,” Pinkham said.

That play-it-safe attitude is apparent at the Portland-based Institute for Financial Literacy, which has seen an increase in customers over the last year.

“I am starting to see the shift from consumerism to thrift,” said Leslie Linfield, executive director and founder of the institute. “I think consumers are looking at Wall Street and saying if it can happen to them, it can happen to me.” That frugal attitude is evident at some lenders, particularly around car loans, Paradise said.

“Used car loans are up, whereas new car loans are down,” Paradise said. “It’s purely a matter of the individual. There is plenty of credit to be lent. Liquidity is very strong right now.”

Any slowdown in the mortgage market is due to that consumer caution, several lenders said.

“I think here in Maine we have a buying public and a selling public that are waiting for a better deal still,” said Dick Morin, president of Kennebunk-based Consumers First Mortgage.

Morin said that it is harder for some people to get loans than a year ago, when overall lending standards were looser. Buyers have had to put down larger down payments – up to 20 percent in some cases – and some lenders have raised their minimum credit scores from, say, 580 to 620.

“Relative to a year ago, there are a lot of people who could finance then who can’t today,” said Morin, who has been in the business for 25 years. Even so, he said, people with decent credit are still able to access loans.

Mainers are still able to get financing for car loans too, according to Ira Rosenberg, owner of Prime Motor Group.

“We really haven’t seen a difference yet, (but) we know it’s coming,” said Rosenberg, noting that they do in-house financing for about 85 to 90 percent of their car loans. As the credit market contracts, he expects more customers will use their in-house financing.