Los Angeles’s best luxury real estate properties are being snatched up by foreigners, investors and savvy buyers alike.

The reasons are the historically low prices, a strong international demand for the Southern California lifestyle and the availability of the best premium properties, many that have not been available in decades.

LAClassicEstates reports 12 sales of properties in the “Over $10 Million” category in just the last 90 days, which averages one major property sale every week.

London has been pushed off its top spot by Monaco as the most expensive place to buy residential property, with the UK capital and surrounding counties suffering some of the biggest price falls in the world.

Monaco, where prime property is being sold for €50,000 ($68,000) per sq m (your average 1,500 square foot apartment would theoretically run you $10 million), is now followed by London, at €28,000 per sq m, then Manhattan, at €16,500 per sq m.

The Wealth Report, compiled by Citi Private Bank and Knight Frank shows that property values fell 17 percent in London and 25 percent in Hong Kong.

Source: Financial Times

Real estate mogul Victor MacFarlane has placed his huge St. Regis penthouse on the sales block for $70 million, a figure that would obliterate the previous record price tag for a San Francisco residence.

Commandingly sited atop the highest floors of the Five-Star St. Regis Hotel & Residences in San Francisco, this one-of-a-kind, palatial penthouse features over 20,000 expansive square feet, including 2,900 square feet of terraces – one of the largest personal residences in all of San Francisco.

The property also features 2,900 square feet of terraces with 360-degree views of many San Francisco landmarks. Glass walls also offer plenty of light and the foyer has a winding staircase and two-story waterfall.

There are six bedrooms, seven baths, four powder rooms, four fireplaces, two offices, a wine storage room, a gym with a sauna and steam room and a 13-seat cinema. It is definitely one of the most striking apartments in the country.

The asking price for the completed condo works out to $3,500 for each of the roughly 20,000 square feet. MacFarlane bought the property, originally three unfinished units on the top two floors, for about $30 million in late 2005.

The question remains, however, whether anyone will be willing to pay that much for one now.

(The Ohio-born MacFarlane is the chief executive officer of MacFarlane Partners, a San Francisco real estate investment firm with $11 billion under management. He has been managing money for the California Public Employees Retirement System since the early 1990s.)

China’s property market has taken a steep turn for the worse if we are to believe the various reports that are beginning to surface in major online publications right now.

The signs of trouble are not a total shock to the system of any alert investor, as many would have been aware of the implications when China started to ban major development projects at the beginning of this year due to heavy pollution in the city of Beijing. [...] This ban has caused a huge shift in building frenzy as many developers prepared for the future by building extra. This has created a massive oversupply of mainly inner city apartments and now that the Olympic Games have been and gone, the market has slowed down.

But this isn’t the only reason, the global credit crunch is affecting Chinese developers who can’t afford to hold on to their empty properties until better times happen to come around so they are forced to slash property prices by up to 30% [...]

Powerhouse Company designed this amazing villa set in the woodlands of Holland.

Located near Ludwigsburg in Germany, this building, designed by J. Mayer H. Architects, echoes the footprint of the original house built in 1984, duplicating and rotating it.

Lifted up, it creates a semi-public space on ground level between two layers of discretion. The skin of the villa performs a sophisticated connection between inside and outside and offers spectacular views onto the old town of Marbach, Germany.

I love the luminosity of the place and the futuristic shapes and I would love to live in this house! The flow of space just inspires so many possibilities for personalizing and living, but of course, this is extremaly minimalist and if you are looking for the toys, the mess, the half-eaten yoghourt on the table and the newspaper wrapped on the floor, this house/exposition hall is probably not meant for you :)

© Photographer David Franck