Before Art Basel Miami Beach the talk was very dark indeed. The worldwide recession would, in its wake, bring an art-market crash. Recent sales at Christie's and Sotheby's, and Frieze art fair, have been stalked by the same fears. Would these fears be proven inMiami?

The super-sized American version of Frieze features more than 250 modern and contemporary galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, with artworks by more than 2,000 artists. Up to now the art market that has slowed dramatically but averted a crash through the skilful driving of dealers and the return of serious collectors who were priced out of the market during the boom by high-spending billionaires.

“Basel Miami”, as it is called by those in the trade, and its countless satellite art fairs have a reputation for hedonism and, although celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Calvin Klein and Naomi Campbell were in town, events were less driven by fashion and partying than in previous years. In fact, euphoria was scarce. The mood was more one of deep relief, as there were enough transactions at the fair to demonstrate that art is still a liquid asset. The general verdict was: it could have been much worse.

“We did much better than five years ago, when the Miami fair started,” said Glenn Scott Wright, the director of the Victoria Miro Gallery. “It's been only the last three years in which sales were exceptionally high.” Victoria Miro's bestselling artist on this occasion was Isaac Julien. The gallery sold a film installation to an American museum and six light-boxes ranging in price between $25,000 to $40,000 (£16,800 to £26,900). Julien is a major figure in America whose prices never skyrocketed during the bull market.

Works for less than $100,000 generally fared better than more expensive art, so the market for “primary” works (straight out of the studio) was stronger than that for “secondary” (or resale) work. Moreover, although dealers were loath to admit it, the customary ten per cent discount may have doubled. Dealers were keen to avoid the mistakes of the art-market crash of 1990, particularly the possibility of paralysing the trade in their artists' work by refusing to lower their prices.

Many deals were slow to close. “Buyers came back for second, third, and even fourth looks. The era of the five-minute decision is over,” said Andreas Gegner, the co-director of Sprüth Magers London gallery. Among others, Sprüth Magers sold a large-scale 2008 Andreas Gursky photo shot in Dubai titled Jumeirah Palms, 2008, with an asking price of €500,000 (£433,000) to a Belgian collector. White Cube gallery sold works by all its key artists, including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Antony Gormley. The gallery's Daniela Gareh said: “Buyers were discerning. As a way of keeping people confident, we extended generous payment terms. In some cases, we gave people six months to pay.” John Good, a senior director of Gagosian Gallery in New York, echoed the sentiment. “This is when the real art dealing takes place. Anyone can do well in an up market. It's a down market that's a challenge. The coming year will take creativity and fortitude.”

The relative absence of European collectors hindered the sales of younger European galleries that have had less time to build loyal international clienteles because the fair saw a trend toward collectors buying from familiar faces. The well-established Lisson Gallery sold some ten works (including a red wall sculpture by Anish Kapoor with an asking price of £650,000) entirely to American, Canadian and Mexican collectors. “We had no European sales,” said Nicholas Logsdail, the owner of the gallery. Strina Gallery from São Paolo witnessed the benefit of international museum validation as they sold three Descala or “ladder sculptures” by Cildo Meireles, who is currently enjoying a solo show at Tate Modern. They were priced at a sturdy $300,000 each and all sold to South Americans.

Malcolm McLaren may have finally managed the transition from pop-fashion Svengali to fine artist as his 85-minute video Shallow 1-21 sold to an American collector and was put on reserve by the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. (Museum sales are rarely made outright as they require committee approval.)

Thomas Houseago, a British artist who lives in Los Angeles, enjoyed a nearly sold-out solo show on the stand of the blue-chip Belgian gallery, Xavier Hufkens. “We were expecting a crash landing, but we got a soft landing,” Hufkens said. “There are differences between the car industry and the art world. Art still frees up passion. In my mind, I was not going to buy anything this week, but as I walked from the back of the hall to my booth, I bought five pieces.” Indeed, many dealers appeared to be taking advantage of lower prices, buying up inventory or restocking their personal collections.

Although one heard rumours of galleries that hadn't sold a single work, dealers with the right artists at the right prices seemed genuinely pleased. José Freire, the owner of Team Gallery in New York, declared: “In selling at Frieze in London and Art Basel in Miami, I feel as if I have dodged two bullets. Who would have thought that during this economic crisis that I could actually make a profit?”

Sarah Thornton is the author of Seven Days in the Art World (Granta)

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