'Another world at the edge of the world" is how Peter Cooper likes to refer to his isolated beachhead on the remote northern coast of New Zealand. The well-known developer, whose family splits its time between homes in Newport Beach, California, and the Takapuna suburb of Auckland, is building a 16,000-square-foot, or 1,500-square-meter, home on 1.6 hectares, or four acres.

For growing numbers of foreigners living in Japan, their international perspective on the real estate market is prompting them to buy homes or make property investments or both.

For most of the past century, Berlin was a city struggling to rebuild itself and, later, a symbol of Cold War divisions. Now, however, the city is becoming known for something else entirely: sprawling lofts and apartments.

First conceived as a folly designed for picnics and promenades, the Château de Bagatelle, faced in pale rose brick and white stone, is an elegant reminder of patrician life in pre-Revolutionary 18th century France.

The days when a visiting surfer would impulsively stop by a real estate office and buy a plot of land or a small beach house for $20,000 are gone.

Many of the old wooden buildings that dot Vietnam's Red River Delta have ended up as kindling, but some are being rescued by locals and expatriates and put to a variety of new uses.

While many American and central Canadian cities have seen slowing sales and falling prices in the past year, economic strength and immigration are expected to drive prices up in Vancouver.

For many Europeans, the ideal second-home spot is one that offers relaxation as well as close proximity to luxury retailers, hip restaurants and perhaps even exclusive nightclubs.

Perhaps the most striking aspect about this Japanese home and hanare, or annex, is its owner, Richard Collasse, head of Chanel in Japan.

London's luxury rental market, already strong and becoming stronger, is getting a further boost from an unexpected source: the U.S. credit crunch.