1. “Antilla”, Mumbai – $1billion

The world’s most expensive home in 2010 is unquestionable. It is the first $1 billion home the world has seen. A custom-build 27 story towering mansion, Antilla in Mumbai is the home of the world’s fifth richest man, namely Mukesh Ambani, head of Indian petro-chemical giant Reliance Industries, which is India’s most valuable firm by market capitalization.

With double height ceilings, ballrooms, crystal chandelier ceilings, retractable stages, and 600 servants, there is no other home on earth that compares to the 570 feet tall Antilla.

2. Villa Leopolda, Cote d’Azur France – $525 million.

 Villa Leopolda is an 80,000 square foot Chateuau built in 1902 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The villa has been rumoured to be the home of Bill Gates and many more global figures, but has actually been home to French banker Edmond Safira, whose wife Lily still lives there. The 19 bedroom villa, which boasts sports courts, a bowling alley, multiple kitchens, dining rooms and a movie theatre, received even more press lately when a Russian mogul lost his deposit on the property when he reneged on completing the sale.

3. One Hyde Park – The Penthouse, London – $200 million

This massively stylish modern penthouse may not be so expensive did it not sit atop the famous number 1 Hyde Park address. As it is in such a premium location it has been built as a home for the rich and famous complete with SAS guard, bullet proof windows, iris scanners, panic rooms and a secret tunnel to the nearby Mandarin Hotel. The building has communal spas, squash courts and wine tasting rooms, and the penthouse is served by 24 hour room service.

4. Fairfield Pond, The Hamptons – $170 million

 This 63 acre home is considered the largest residential compound in America. The 29 bedroom beachfront home of publicity shy billionaire Ira Rennert has 5 sports courts, a bowling alley and a $150,000 hot tub.

5. Hearst Mansion, Beverly Hills – $165 million

This mansion — the former home of publishing giant William Randolph Hearst, the inspiration for the main character in “Citizen Kane” –, features 29 bedrooms and three pools. The estate became a pop-culture icon after being used in The Godfather movie, when the infamous severed horse’s head turned up in the owner’s bed. The fact that assassinated President John F Kennedy stayed in the mansion during his honeymoon also added to its status. The house has some notable neighbours, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and David and Victoria Beckham

6. Franchuk Villa, Kensington – $161million

Anyone else spotting a trend here (the most expensive homes being mainly in the UK and US, this making it 2 all). This Victorian Villa was a girl’s prep school until 1997, when it was bought and upgraded in 2006. After receiving a £10 million overhaul and refurb it was purchased by Ukrainian AIDS philanthropist, Elena Franchuk, and renamed the Franchuk Villa.

7. “The Pinnacle”, Montana – $155million

This is the home of Time and Edra Blixseth, owners of the billionaires-only golf and ski resort “Yellowstone Club” in Montana. It will be the largest and grandest property on the resort, but is still small in comparison to some of those on this list, with only 10 bedrooms. To catch up the property has impressive features such as every inch of floor being heated, a heated driveway and fireplaces in all bathrooms. (3-2 to America).

8. “The Manor”, Los Angeles – $150 million

The home of Aaron Spelling, dubbed “The Manor” by wife Cindy, has 123 rooms for his family to choose from, an indoor skating rink, multiple pools, three kitchens, sports courts, private orchard, and a bowling alley. The home, which he had built from scratch in 1991 also has a room used exclusively for wrapping presents and an entire floor dedicated to closet space.

9. Updown Court, Windlesham, Surrey – $139million

 The description of this home is above, as it was the 3rd most expensive home in 2008. What is interesting however, is that in 2008 it was valued at $110million, meaning its value has grown substantially even during such difficult financial times.

10. Dracula’s Castle, Romania – $135million

This home needs no introduction. Built in the 14th century, the castle is now a national monument and museum thanks to the legend surrounding it, which also needs no introduction. It has 57 rooms in total, including 17 bedrooms filled with antiques and historical artefacts. It wouldn’t do for the publicly shy Ira Rennert mentioned above, but for the quirkier billionaire, the 450 million tourists that visit every year may be worth it for living in Dracula’s castle.

And there you have it folks, now that is what I would call “Prime Real Estate.”

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For once California’s economy looks good compared to that of some other states.

A foreclosure crisis that has dimmed the state’s golden glow with images of financial ruin and broken government is beginning to wane, says a leading trade group for the U.S. mortgage industry.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that California foreclosure starts have fallen from a year ago – even as problems grow in Midwestern Rust Belt states such as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

“California is showing signs of improvement. We are seeing it on a quarter-to-quarter basis and year-over-year basis,” MBA Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann said.

Consider:

• In the past year California moved from fourth place among U.S. states for foreclosure starts to seventh.

• Mortgage delinquencies, while up from early 2009, fell slightly in early 2010.

• The percentage of California mortgages in the foreclosure process fell, too, during the past year.

California’s fragile improvements come as the national picture is less clear. Collectively, the longtime mortgage disaster areas – Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada – are becoming less of a problem nationally, MBA data showed.

“A year ago they had 45.3 percent of the problem loans,” said Brinkmann. “That’s down to 37.9 percent.

“We’re looking now at Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. They’re climbing back into the list of problems,” he said. Those states have longer-term structural problems as their manufacturing economies continue to decline.

The new data confirmed improvements in California and the Sacramento area recently cited by researcher MDA DataQuick. Last month the firm said mortgage defaults have fallen for a year straight in the state and region, with foreclosures dropping now as well.

In hard-hit Sacramento suburbs such as Natomas, Lincoln and Elk Grove, residents see dwindling evidence of the crisis.

“All those houses that were vacant before were sold in the last year or two,” said Tyler Smith, a Keller Williams agent in Sacramento “A year ago it seemed every other house on some of those streets were vacant.”

Homeowners in distress are increasingly using short sales to unload their properties rather than losing them to foreclosure.

That’s helping preserve neighborhoods, because these owners stay in the homes until they’re sold rather being evicted and leaving an empty house behind.

Make no mistake: California’s long journey into a financial meltdown is nowhere near its conclusion, economists say.

They foresee prolonged trouble for the state economy and government revenues. At best, said Los Angeles economist Chris Thornberg, “The worst is behind us.” He added, “We have years yet of dealing with this.”

Like everything about the foreclosure crisis, even explaining a sense of improvement is open to interpretation. Thornberg said a fall in California foreclosure starts shows only that banks are taking longer to deal with late mortgage payments.

Jeff Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific, said simply, “This suggests we’ve reached the point where the number moving into delinquency equals the number moving out.”

Even that might be declared victory. More people are moving out of delinquency through short sales – selling their homes for less than they owe. And despite criticism of government loan modification efforts, the U.S. Treasury Department reported this week that 5,400 homeowners in the eight-county Sacramento region received permanent loan modifications since December 2009. Regionally, banks foreclosed on 4,300 more in the first quarter of 2010.

Any slowdown of last year’s frightful rise in delinquencies, said Michael, “indicates we’re close to a peak.”

The state still has a long way to go before it regains a healthy economy, 6 percent unemployment and a budget in the black, Thornberg and Michael agreed Wednesday. But for once, California is falling off lists of the worst performers.

Eventually, the supply of distressed properties will simply be exhausted, Michael said, adding, “The fire will burn itself out for lack of fuel.”

More people bought pricier houses in April, signaling the end of Sacramento’s bargain basement-only sales scene.

Buyers picked up the pace from last year in Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills and older neighborhoods near downtown Sacramento, researcher MDA DataQuick reported Thursday. Simultaneously, buyers dwindled in Oak Park, North Highlands and other repo zones of the past two years.

What gives?

There are fewer available repos after a long blowout sale, market trackers say. There’s also a sense at the higher end that this market is as good as it’s going to get for a while.

He said he sold three houses this week valued between $350,000 and $800,000.

The shifting sales mix tugged Sacramento County’s median sales price for resale houses nearly 10 percent higher than the same time last year, DataQuick reported. The median, where half cost more and half less, was $175,000.

Resale home prices also beat April 2009 levels in Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

Less than half of Sacramento County’s April sales were cheap bank repos – compared with two-thirds a year earlier. With fewer repos this year, sales in the $200,000 to $400,000 range grabbed a larger market share.

“We’ve had 70 people coming through open houses in the $300,000 to $400,000 range,” said Bob Bronswick, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.

“That’s the trend across the state,” said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. He said sellers are cutting prices and buyers are still getting low interest rates to make deals work.

Sellers are not thinking about 2005. They’re thinking: ‘We might have to take it back to 2003 or 2002 prices and sell it at that.’

This doesn’t mean expensive is back. LePage said homes priced above $400,000 are only a tiny percentage of Sacramento-area sales.

But the shift is part of restoring balance to a market where repos accounted for a majority of sales for much of 2008 and 2009. Banks have cut repossessed homes on the market.

“The way banks are managing it now will probably keep prices from falling much further,” said Rick Sharga of Orange County foreclosure analyst RealtyTrac.

Overall, 3,255 homes changed hands during April in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, DataQuick reported. That was down slightly from March – and fewer than April 2009.

Analysts attributed the slight drop to fewer repo listings for first-time buyers and people delaying escrow closings until May. The state began offering homebuyer tax credits of up to $10,000 May 1.

New homes accounted for 5 percent of sales in the region.

The Housing Group Fund, small-scale local builders, remodeled the house, and SMUD turned it into a energy efficient model demonstration project.It’s a tiny piece of the $3.9 billion federal Neighborhood Stabilization Plan that sent $32 million to Sacramento County earlier this year.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency contributed $86,000 from the allocation to bring back a house nearly destroyed on its way to foreclosure. Said Diana Tate at a ribbon cutting marking the accomplishment Thursday: “It’s been a long time coming.”

In another moving scene, husband Ken said they’d looked at houses for a year.  ”We finally finished the race,” he said.

Here’s a look at the ribbon cutting held in their front yard:

But wait. That’s the lower end, houses priced at roughly $300,000 and under, the zone of repos and bidding wars between investors and first-time buyers.

The higher end of the Sacramento-area market – say anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million or more – still has ample room to fall unless this economy surprisingly rebounds. So owners are whacking harder now on initial asking prices.

You can see that in new statistics from home search firm Trulia.com. The company says homeowners with listings in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo County have collectively reduced asking prices by $156 million since putting out for-sale signs.

About 40 percent of that markdown is from homes priced at $1 million or more. On average, these richest owners have cut their prices by $271,000 in El Dorado County, and $334,000 in Placer County.

Up in the real estate heights, it remains more expensive for buyers to get financing. The move-up buyer pool is smaller than ever as thousands at the lower- and mid-market have seen their equity shredded.

Those who can buy at higher prices are savvy and watching for capitulation, meaning “price reductions and opportunity,” said Bob Bronswick, head of Coldwell Banker’s residential brokerage for the Sacramento and Lake Tahoe region. For owners, it’s all about what Bronswick and others in the trade call “getting a little more realistic.”

Bronswick said the higher end is a little stronger than a year ago. Yet numbers from the Sacramento Association of Realtors show just 2.9 percent of October’s buyers paid $500,000 or more in Sacramento County and West Sacramento. At today’s pace, it would take two years to sell the houses in SAR’s territory priced at $650,000 or more, said association President Charlene Singley. The market as a whole has a much smaller inventory of unsold homes – just 3.2 months worth.

This story is repeated all over California. There’s a market for it still,” Bronswick said of higher-end homes. “But it’s a little bit softer.” In a business where no one likes to be negative, and inside an economy that hasn’t got its act together yet, that’s probably putting it – well, softly.

Rents headed down again

While we’re speaking of deflationary real estate, area apartment rents have returned to late 2006 levels. That’s after a yearlong slide that continued in July, August and September, Novato-based industry tracker RealFacts reported this week.

No wonder capital apartment complexes are offering “two-bedroom blowouts” or a four-bedroom lease for the price of two bedrooms.

RealFacts pegged average third-quarter rent at $946 for 76,000 apartment units in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties. That’s down from $974 a year ago. The average two-bedroom, two-bath unit goes for $1,062, said the firm.

Rents at large apartment communities are falling in tandem with higher vacancies as more people who have lost their jobs double up, live at home or rent houses from people unable to sell them.

Average monthly apartment rents and occupancy rates in capital-area cities:

• Davis: $1,354; 96.4 percent.

• Elk Grove: $1,098; 88.9 percent.

• Folsom: $1,138; 90.4 percent.

• Rancho Cordova: $814; 93.5 percent.

• Rocklin: $1,047; 93 percent.

• Roseville: $1,066; 92.9 percent.

• Sacramento: $929; 92.4 percent.