The small market towns and the picture postcard villages in rolling countryside make owning a latest luxury home in East Sussex something further special. With its great road and rail links to the coast and to London, easy access to Gatwick airport and first-class schools, East Sussex is a well-liked destination for families looking for something special. Described as ‘the cream of the crop’ by developers Ward Homes, Ashdown Place enjoys a stunning spot in the village of Five Ash Down, just outside the market town of Uckfield. These traditionally designed and built new homes comprise the luxury five-bedroom ‘Crowborough’, a separate home over three floors. The large kitchen/breakfast room lies at the heart of this family home, and is fitted to the highest standards, with open views of the rear garden and separate utility room. A formal dining room and large lounge make this the wonderful home for entertaining. Five bedrooms are set over two floors, with two en suites, a family bathroom and further shower room.

Mayfield Grange, Mayfield, lies in the heart of the county, just fifteen minutes from Royal Tunbridge Wells, with fast road and rail links to London. Weston Homes has completely refurbished the 19th-century Great Hall at Mayfield Grange, creating a series of superb new homes set in 20 acres of grounds. Plot 5 is a two-bedroom, first-floor fully furnished show home, priced at £545,000. This unique luxury home comprises 20-feet master bedroom, with en suite and 22-foot second bedroom, both with en suite bathrooms featuring Roca sanitaryware and solid-oak cupboards. Across the hallway, a 600-sq-ft living room leads to a fitted kitchen including a full range of Smeg appliances, stone work surfaces and under-pelmet lighting for that extra luxury feel.
Berkeley Homes is offering luxury by the sea at its All Saints development. Another stunning refurbishment of an historic building set in manicured lawns and gardens, All Saints sits close to parkland leading to Beachy Head and near to the beaches and facilities of the thriving town of Eastbourne. A limited number of two-bedroom apartments are available with prices ranging from £275,000 to £375,000.

Plot 14 is a luxury apartment set over two floors. Accommodation includes an open-plan kitchen/dining/living area, large bathroom and upper floor master bedroom with en suite and study. Finished to the highest standards, and close to all amenities, All Saints makes the perfect home by the sea, or retirement home for those seeking to downsize, with a full concierge service, including laundry, taxi and chauffeur services, reading room and residents’ gym.

There is just one home left for sale at Emett Gardens in the sought-after village of Ditchling. Hillreed Homes is presenting a rare opportunity to purchase a high-specification new-build home in this charming location. There are just three homes at Emett Gardens and the remaining five-bedroom detached property, the ‘Bromley’, exemplifies the attention to detail and uncompromising standards that have been applied at the development. The £1.2 million price tag secures a superbly designed, spacious home with ample reception rooms, two en suite bedrooms, an integral double garage and a large, secluded plot.

Crowborough is a busy market town with prosperous town centre, high street and regular farmers’ market. Two golf clubs and good local schooling and amenities make this a highly attractive area that is less than one hour by train from central London. Antler Homes is offering luxury living at Milne Square, Crowborough Hill, with prices from £417,950. Quality finishes are the hallmark of the ‘Hatch’ four-bedroom detached house at Milne Square, which benefits from spacious rooms and offers a wow factor in the shape of a spectacular vaulted ceiling lantern in the open-plan kitchen/family area.

A large living room leads onto a good-size rear garden and a separate study and downstairs cloakroom add to the feeling of space. Four bedrooms are set over the first floor, and include two en suites, a family bathroom and built in wardrobes. Alongside the house, which is priced at £525,000, is a double garage with private drive way offering parking for two additional cars.

Jack Nicholson has put his Victorian house in Aspen, Colorado, on the market for a cool 15 million dollars.

The veteran actor, 74, was last seen at the property, in the ski resort area, with daughter Lorraine over Christmas.

According to Realtor.com, the estate was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1987, boasts of five bedrooms, eight bathrooms and overlooks Hallam Lake in Aspen’s West End, the Daily Mail reported.

The green gabled home is known as Newberry House and was built in 1895 for one of Aspen’s early residents, William Shaw.

The 5,790 square foot property has a 2 1/2-story wood frame, and a large veranda, and boasts of a vernacular interpretation of the Shingle style and an unusual carriage house which was incorporated into the overall design of the home.

Some big investors have shown interest in buying foreclosed properties being sold in bulk by Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB), the largest U.S. home funding source, the Wall Street Journal said citing people familiar with the process.

Under the deal, the investors would have to rent out the properties they buy from Fannie and not sell them for several years, the Journal said.

The sale consists of 2,500 homes divided into eight regional pools that have a current market value of $320 million, and the bids are due by mid-April, the Journal said, citing an offering document prepared by Fannie’s adviser Credit Suisse.

Officials are looking to complete the first transactions by late May, the Journal said.

The Journal named New York based broker dealer Amherst Securities Group and a fund run by mortgage-bond pioneer Lewis Ranieri as interested bidders. Hedge fund manager Paulson & Co and private-equity investors Colony Capital LLC are also considering bids, the Journal said.

Spokesmen for Fannie Mae and Credit Suisse declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal on the sale.

As a political bloc in Finland pushes for a federal bill to limit the purchase of real estate to Finns and other European Union citizens, Russians wanting to buy property in their northern neighbor are facing a cold gust of Nordic air.

Though both precedent and political sentiment in Finland give the bill little chance of becoming law, the proposal suggests mixed feelings about Russians, who in 2010 bought more than 400 properties in Finland for a total of 56 million euros ($75 million).

The bill, spearheaded by the Center Party, a bloc that makes up about 18 percent of Finland’s parliament, makes the case for EU-only real estate ownership by citing national security and heritage. It was drafted in November and introduced to parliament this month.

There is little doubt that it’s targeted at Russians, as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, which aren’t EU nations, are exempted, while Russia, other CIS countries and the countries of the former Yugoslavia would be affected.

Pertti Salolainen, vice chairman of the Finnish parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a member of the National Coalition Party, told The Moscow Times that his party isn’t backing the proposed legislation. The country’s new president, to be sworn in March 1, is a National Coalition member.

“We think that it’s a good thing that there are more Russians buying in Finland,” he said in a telephone interview Friday.

News articles in Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish publication owned by the same company as The Moscow Times, have commented on Russians who “bring revenue to eastern Finland but also arouse suspicions,” as one headline read. According to Salolainen, Russian purchases of homes have raised speculation about money laundering, while at the same time improved the economics of Finland’s east, which had experienced an exodus of Finns.

According to 2010 figures from Finland’s National Land Survey, Russians bought 413 properties in Finland that year, with more than 300 of those purchases concentrated in two regions. There were about 400 properties picked up by Russians in 2009 and 780 properties in 2008, the Land Survey’s Mervi Laitinen said by e-mail.

Though Salolainen’s National Coalition Party doesn’t like the anti-foreigner sentiment in the bill, it does have its own concerns with Russian-Finnish real estate: It wants the Russian government to give Finland “reciprocity” by allowing Finns to buy property close to home.

Since January 2011, when President Dmitry Medvedev banned foreigners from acquiring land in the republic of Karelia and other northwest border areas, Finns have been prohibited from owning property in some of the territories nearest to them.

“We don’t think that [such] large border zones are necessary,” Salolainen said, referring to the buffer that Russia has effectively established between it and Finland.

Finland’s dominant party also wants Russia to make its land registry more transparent, so that it will be easier to determine if Finns can acquire a given property, Salolainen said.

Jeffrey D. Butler, the Connecticut Light & Power chief who resigned after he became the lightning rod for criticism of the company’s power restoration attempt after the Halloween snowstorm, put his Avon house up for sale Thursday for $1.6 million.

Butler and his wife Susan bought the 6,800-square-foot Colonial on Pembroke Drive in 2009 and are listing the 5-bedroom, 5.3-bathroom home for approximately the same price they paid for it.

Just eight houses priced at $1.5 million or higher have sold in Avon since the Butlers purchased the home, and there are at present five other homes in the town on the market in that price range, according to Rob Giuffria, president of Prudential Premier Homes in Farmington.

“The market for $1.5 million plus homes in Avon and the nearby area is still in transition, and I would anticipate the Butler home to sell for much less than the list price,” Giuffria said. “Who knows, maybe somebody will buy it because they believe they won’t lose power to the house.”

The listing agent, Ellen Seifts of Prudential Connecticut Realty in Avon, did not instantly respond today to an e-mail seeking comment. A call to Butler’s home was not immediately returned.

The brick Colonial on two-acres boasts views of the Heublein-Tower and includes a game room, wine cellar, a gunite pool with hot tub, a waterfall and koi pond, a guest house with full bath and kitchenette and a 4-car heated garage.

Butler, an engineer by training, resigned in November among a firestorm over CL&P’s handling of the storm recovery and aftermath. Charles Shivery, CEO of CL&P parent Northeast Utilities, said Butler was not forced out or asked to step aside, but offer to leave because it seem his remaining on the job could become an issue that would hinder the company’s efforts to move forward.

Butler moved to Connecticut to take the CL&P president job, after a long career in the energy industry, nearly completely in California at Pacific Gas and Electric.

Butler became well-known to the state residents during twice-a-day, high-profile, televised news conferences after the Oct. 29 storm that left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark for a long as 11 days.

The listing did not talk about that the house has a back-up generator, but Butler told reporters at one briefing that he had a generator but it failed during the power outage, also leaving Butler in the dark.

Are you house hunting, or do you just like to see how others live? Here are a few of the homes for sale in New Rochelle.

Maybe you’ll discover your dream home.

Here are a few homes on the market in the Queen City. 76 Chauncey Ave. Listing price: $385,000. 4 bedrooms, 3-1/2 baths. 1,700 square feet. Listing office: coldwellbankermoves.com. Information from trulia.com

70 Cortlandt Ave. Listing price: $850,000. 4 bedrooms, 4 full baths & 2-1/2 baths. 3,200 square feet. Listing office: BH&G Rand Realty.

76 Chauncey Ave. Listing price: $385,000. 4 bedrooms, 3-1/2 baths. 1,700 square feet. Listing office: coldwellbankermoves.com

HARRISON COUNTY – Drive anyplace on Highway 90 in Harrison County and you’re bound to see them. Sale-signs are posted on vacant lots up and down the beach-front highway.

A still dull economy and the high cost of post-Katrina insurance have both contributed to an copiousness of beach front property now on the market.

“With the taxes and the insurance, on top of the construction expenses to build up or set back, it’s made it almost infeasible to be able to build back on residential lots on Highway 90. It’s really, very costly. You’re going to have to have deep-pockets to do it,” said Windy Swetman.

Harrison County Supervisor Windy Swetman is also a residential-developer who keeps close tabs on the real estate industry. He says such lots have always been premium property, but elements like the storm and recession are having a detectable impact.

“They’ve always been high-dollar. The difference right at the present is that you have a higher premium on insurance that you’re paying and the recession. So, you’re in a recession, you have higher insurance, the taxes are even there at a high rate for them,” said Swetman.

“What I anticipate happening is the property along Highway 90, for the majority part, is going to become commercial over the next few years,” says Jerry Creel, the community development director for the City of Biloxi.

He says projects like the new McElroy’s will draw other development along the waterfront.

“Right now, we’re in discussions with eight hotels, six restaurants that all desire to situate along the beach. Just the discussion stage right now, but we’ll make some proclamation as those come to fruition,” said Creel.

He says tax credit programs that pardon property taxes for up to seven years are also an incentive for new development.

Needs to realise roughly Rs 3,000 crore to keep to debt decrease target for current financial year.

India’s largest developer by market capitalization, DLF Ltd, is banking on at least two to three big ticket sales in early 2012, to stay to its debt reduction target for the current financial year. The developer needs to realise Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 3,500 crore from noncore asset sales, to attain its 2011-12 goals.

Although the company is still far from the divestment figure it had set, Rajeev Talwar, executive director sounded sure about making it on time. He told Business Standard the developer was expecting a couple of big ticket sales before the current financial year closes.

Besides the much talked Aman-Resorts deal, DLF is looking at a transaction to offload stake in its Pune IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ), sometime early next calendar year, Talwar said. Another deal to sell stake in the Noida IT-SEZ is also in the offing. According to analysts, these three deals could fetch DLF Rs 3,300 crore.

“The Aman hotel sale is only at arm’s-length, but would not conclude this calendar-year. Early next year looks more likely,” said Talwar. The stake sale in Aman will exclude the Delhi hotel (earlier named Lodhi). Analysts said the Aman Resorts sale could be a projected Rs 2,000 crore deal. The Pune-SEZ deal could be worth Rs 900 crore and the stake sale in Noida SEZ could fetch the company between Rs 400 crore and Rs 450 crore.

The company may seem at selling the un-built land of DLF Hotels and Hospitality Ltd (DHHL), again as part of its noncore divestment strategy. “We will try to get the maximum valuation of the sale,” he said.

Earlier this week, DLF acquired an additional 26 per cent stake in its joint venture DLF Hotel Holdings Ltd (DHHL), from Aro Participation Ltd and Splendid Property Company, affiliates of Hilton International, for Rs 120 crore. The joint venture has one Hilton hotel, in Delhi.

Another divestment DLF has initiated is in Galaxy-Mercantile, a JV between DLF Home Developers Ltd and Infrastructure Development Finance Company. Four days ago, DLF announced signing an agreement to divest its entire stake in Galaxy-Mercantile. Galaxy will buy the entire DLF stake in the project for Rs 450 crore over the next 12 to 18 months. DLF has already received the first share of Rs 200 crore from this deal. The balance payment has been linked to various leasing milestones.

As for the SEZ-projects in Pune and Noida, DLF holds 70 per cent in both. The Pune SEZ is a joint venture with Ackruti City. According to Talwar, the company is in talks with Indian and foreign companies to sell its stake in the Pune SEZ. The industry buzz is that international private equity Major Blackstone will buy into DLF’s Pune SEZ. The Noida SEZ asset is a JV with another real estate company, 3C.

In the case of Aman hotels, DLF has got the final-bids from four or five companies. Khazanah, Malaysian government’s wealth fund, is being seen as the most possible buyer. Other prominent bidders include Kingdom Holdings, the company which owns the Four Seasons Hotel, and a Chinese hospitality group, it is learnt.

DLF’s net debt stood at Rs 22,519 crore as the half end of September. It aims to bring down debt to Rs 19,000 crore to Rs 19,500 crore by the end of this financial year, and to Rs 10,000 crore by 2013, through sale of noncore assets.

New home sales rose a bit in October, but the level of demand is historically very weak because of high-unemployment in the U.S. and competition from cheaper existing homes.

Sales increased by 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual-rate of 307,000 from a downwardly revised speed of 303,000 in September, the Commerce Department said.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had estimate sales would slip by 0.3% to an annual-rate of 312,000.

The average price in October for a new home was $212,300, higher than the level of $204,200 a year earlier and as yet down from the month earlier.

Uncertainty in the direction of home prices can give would-be buyers second thoughts, with some of them waiting for a better deal. Owners who want to sell, on the other hand, tend to take their property off the market until prices steady a trend that adds to inventory in the future and depresses-prices further.

New homes are, generally, more expensive than previously owned property. People have been particularly attracted to foreclosed homes because of the low-price tags.

New-home sales amount to about a quarter of their peak before the bubble began deflating around five years ago. Sales are way below healthy levels, considered to be an annual rate of around 750,000.

Year over year, new-home-sales were 8.9% above the October 2010 level.

Because many people have much of their net worth tied up in their homes, the bursting of the price bubble made consumers feel less wealthy and discouraged spending. The economy slouches from late 2007 to mid 2009. It has been trying to retrieve strongly but unemployment stays high.

For the housing sector to recover, the economy needs to create more jobs and housing prices must steady. But economists think prices will keep falling because the foreclosure-pipeline is long. Falling prices pull more homes “underwater,” which mean the owners owe more on their mortgages than the property is worth. That leads to more foreclosures and lower prices.

With builders pessimistic, the no of new-homes listed for sale at the end of October was 162,000, which is historically low. That supply would take 6.3 months to reduce at the current sales speed and is around a healthy-level. The supply in September was 6.4 months.

The Commerce statement said October new home sales were mixed. New home Sales rose 14.9% in the West and 22.2% in the Midwest. Sales were flat in the Northeast and fell 9.5% in the South.