They’re the Downton Abbeys of Wales - the country homes where the gentry lived a life of pampered luxury while beyond the grand estates much of Edwardian Britain survived in six-to-a-room squalor. Now a new book tells the story of the Welsh Downtons, the families who lived in them and the servants they depended on. Darren Devine reports.When the last ox to plough the field at Edwinsford died the animal’s hoof was preserved by the Williams-Drummond family that occupied the grand Carmarthenshire Read more [...]

Mike Imgarten witnessed a frenzy of demand and a dearth of inventory during a two-month house hunt in Sacramento, California. Fearing he would pay too much after a surge in prices, he said he took a break from searching in June. Sales in Sacramento now are off by more than 25 percent from a year ago and, while inventory remains tight, the supply of homes on the market has almost doubled, according to Erin Stumpf, Imgarten’s real Read more [...]

Sacramento area home prices flattened this fall after months of dramatic increases earlier in the year, DataQuick reported Wednesday.A typical seasonal slowdown is part of the reason, the San Diego-based real estate information service said. But the more stable prices are also a product of a greater inventory of homes for sale, higher interest rates and the exodus of investors from the market, said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.After a rapid run-up, we “hit a wall midsummer,” LePage Read more [...]

Houses can be cheaper to build in NZ Modest gains for capital house values Gold in loo projects for architects Property values rise 8.9 per cent Building materials prices 'too high' Higher deposit rules hit confidence Conman's mansion on the market Read more [...]