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Location: Montecito, Calif.
Price: $17,500,000
The Skinny: Inspired by the Dutch Colonial country estates in the hills outside Cape Town, South Africa, this Montecito mansion, known as Constantia, was designed by Chicago-based architect Ambrose Cramer as a wintertime escape for one of his Windy City patrons, the Meeker meatpacking family. Over the years since its completion in 1931, the magnificent structure passed to other local notables, like architect Jack Warner and philanthropists Stewart and Katherine Abercrombie, who are said to have hosted the Dalai Lama here on one of his American tours. The current owner, who purchased the property in 2006, has conducted an exacting renovation of the 9,800-square-foot main house and the sprawling Lockwood de Forest, Jr.-designed grounds. That must have been quite a reno, because now that very same owner is asking $17.5M, a solid $10.5M more than he or she paid back in '06. Regardless of the profit margin, this place has undeniably been restored to the standard that earned it a place in a 1979 issue of Architectural Digest.
· 1599 E Valley Road [Zillow]
Eric Audras | Photoalto | Getty Images2012 will likely not see as robust rent growth as 2011; housing affordability continues to improve and renting is becoming ever more expensive than owning. A huge surge in rental demand and comparatively little apartment supply created a boom in multi-family construction in the last year, but with the single family housing market slowly beginning to show signs of life, the concern among banks and investors is that all that supply will hit the market just as rental demand drops off. Based on preliminary estimates of Q4 '11 activity, multi-family loan origination volume increased to $82 billion in 2011, up from $50 billion in 2010, according to Chandan Economics. Understandably, some lenders and investors are starting to ask questions. "While 2012 should be another good year for apartment REITs, there is concern amongst some investors and managements that market expectations may be hard to beat," say analysts at Sandler O'Neill. "Based on discussions with managements, revenue growth should match sentiment but expense growth may be the wildcard." Rents have been rising steadily as apartment vacancies drop and