(Light Sock chandeliers light up the Swarovski Crystal Palace exhibit during the Design Miami fair) Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, a yellow cashmere sweater tossed over his shoulders, paused for coffee with his wife, Hilary, on the bustling floor of the Art Basel Miami Beach fair over the weekend. "The quality is good, but prices are sky high," Ross said. "What was $20,000 a few years ago is now $1.2 million. It kind of takes your breath away." The sixth annual Art Basel Miami Beach, the largest contemporary art fair in the U.S., closed yesterday with dealers reporting strong sales. More than 200 galleries participated in the main fair, with hundreds more showing works in 20-plus satellite venues in the Miami area. Total attendance at the main fair was 43,000, up from 40,000 last year, fair organizers said. Weekend visitors paid $30 to get into the Miami Beach Convention Center, more than the price of admission to New York's Museum of Modern Art. New York's Acquavella Galleries sold a 1973 brown and red Andy Warhol "Mao" painting with a $12.5 million price tag. The gallery wouldn't disclose the actual sale price. Pricey American classics fared well at Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, where large, colorful canvases by Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis, Hans Hofmann and Robert Motherwell sold for more than $1 million each. "Everyone got here wondering whether the bubble was going to pop, and no, it didn't," dealer James Yohe said. Gagosian Gallery sold more than $10 million in artworks, director John Good said. "The markets may be doing funny things," he said."But the rich are still rich." Hedge-Fund Buyers Steven A. Cohen and Adam Sender were among the hedge-fund managers and collectors at the fair. Americans did much of the buying. "The market seems firm and broad," said dealer Robert Mnuchin of L&M Arts, decked out in a white shirt and slacks. The artwork labels in L&M's booth had a sprinkling of red dots, indicating sales. A purple foil painting by Anselm Reyle, listed at $250,000, was among the works sold. Some said the buying was less frenetic than earlier this year. "I found people slower to make decisions," said Ron Warren, director of the Mary Boone gallery. "It was not the kind of profligate spending we saw at the auctions." Outside the convention center in Miami Beach, where real estate prices in South Florida have plummeted, local retailers wondered why business was bad. (Visitors to the Art Basel Miami Beach art fair pass by the ShanghART Supermarket booth in Miami) Empty Shops Excess, a shop opposite the Ritz-Carlton hotel that features $12.99 pink hot pants with "Miami Beach" emblazoned in rhinestones across the behind, was empty. "It's a lot of people outside but not inside," said Gaudy Heywood, a long- lashed saleswoman. "All the stores are dead." Business also was slow at the nine small fairs in motels along Collins Avenue, with art propped against sinks and on beds. "Foot traffic is a little less than last year, but there are so many fairs on Collins," said dealer Kathleen Cullen at the Bridge art fair. New York architect Ruben Nadal, in a black tank top and Polo khakis covered with black skulls, said he preferred the smaller fairs to the more uptight convention center. "It's affordable, approachable and the spirit that I'm looking for," he said. He was interested in a $500 Laurie Simmons photograph. The proliferation of related events, from parties hosted by Cartier and Pucci to the satellite fairs, diffused crowds and collector dollars. "The satellite fairs are oversaturated," said art adviser Sheri Pasquarella, who came with five clients."My schedule was wonky. I couldn't take a lunch break most days." Pasquarella said her clients were pleased with their purchases, though three of her regulars opted out. Thrill Is Gone A week at the fair can cost upwards of $10,000, Pasquarella said. Her clients objected to "hotels that are too expensive, the experience being over-bloated with hangers-ons" and generally "not as fun as it was a few years back." Some collectors are waiting for prices to drop, she said. On the social front, the fair has lost its exclusivity when thousands of people spend five days attending lavish dinners and poolside cocktail parties. Public-relations reps were plugging W condos, Armani perfume and Swarovski crystals at every turn. Even Paris Hilton showed up to hawk her perfume, Can Can. Down Collins Avenue at the Berkeley Shore Hotel, where no- frills rooms go for $100 a night, a psychic named Bianca gave $25 palm readings in a room filled with crystals, candles and burgundy velvet. Bianca, sporting immaculate fake fingernails and rhinestone earrings, agreed to ponder the question that most dealers and collectors avoid. Would big prices for art continue, given recent problems on Wall Street and in the real estate market? Bianca paused for a moment. "When other things go down, creativity goes up."