Dreaming of a tropical paradise to call your own? Several Australian islands off the Great Barrier Reef are on sale, and thanks to the global recession, they’re cheaper than they used to be.

Global real estate agency Coldwell Banker’s Capricorn Coast branch is offering 9 islands, some with luxury mansions and other amenities, around the Great Barrier Reef with prices starting at $1.3 million and up to $90 million.

One island on offer, Long Island, has seen its $6.5 million price tag slashed by 42 per cent. Others are being advertised for almost half what they cost about a year ago.

You can choose the design of your phone, your computer, and your car - so why not your condominium?

That’s what Chad Oppenheim, head of Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture & Design, asked himself while putting together his architectural thesis at Brown University.

The question became the impetus for his latest project: a condominium complex, set to be completed by the end of 2010, that takes a bottom-up, user-generated approach to constructing residential space.

Called “Home of the Year” by some American journalists, this stunning house sits among the Hollywood Hills and it’s full of new technologies: CinemaScope theater, 7.1-channel surround-sound, intricate TV concealment, extensive automation.

The residence was designed and built by Temple Home, whose co-owner, Xorin Balbes, has earned recognition for his restoration of famous Los Angeles-area homes.

“They developed it as the ultimate bachelor pad, and part of their thing was that they wanted all of the technology that a young Hollywood actor or director might want,” says systems developer and DSI co-founder Eric Thies.

Architect Nicholas Day has designed this new house in the Malvern suburb of Melbourne, Australia.

The home has recently been listed for sale by the agents at RT Edgar

Via Contemporist

With news of the forthcoming opening of the Dubai Metro Red Line in September 2009, the bustling gulf metropolis is in the final phase of completing its transformation into one of the leading global cities of the modern era.

Connecting the central business district with both sides of the Dubai Creek, the new metro (with a further Green Line extension planned for 2010) will ease commuter traffic, and undoubtedly benefit property owners who are currently jammed on roads on their daily commutes.

In the long term, it is forecasted that potential Dubai investment will also have to reconsider their policies in view of this new “green factor”.

Despite a slowing market, luxury home prices in Shanghai are likely to remain stable or grow in the second half of this year mainly due to the scarcity of land downtown, says Asia Property Report.